Salt Dough Ornaments

So when I was deciding what kid craft to try for December, I knew I wanted something Christmasy. You know to get the kids in the holiday spirit, but I had tried salt dough ornaments before and they didn't turn out that well. I just couldn't get them to dry all the way. And when I set them outside to dry, a raccoon (or some other night creature) ate the salt dough away from the paint.

So I wasn't sure I wanted to go through that again

But the more I looked at Christmas kid crafts, the more I knew I had to give salt dough ornaments another try.

The Project

Make Salt Dough Ornaments

Idea and Recipe from The Imagination Tree

The Results

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If you search Pinterest for salt dough ornaments there are a couple different recipes to choose from. I think the first time I tried making salt dough I used the recipe that was 1 part salt, 1 part water and 2 parts flour. So for the second trial I decided to use the 1 part water, 2 parts flour and 2 parts salt 

And it mixed together quite well.

Next I threw it onto my cutting board and began to roll in out.

(which clearly still had spots from the ginger bread cookies I made earlier that day)

And instead of making hand prints or feet prints, I decided to use my Christmas cookie cutters. And baked them in the oven. Once they were baked I let them cool down over night. (and for a day or two after)

Finally I let the boys paint them!

We used finger paint, but acrylic paint it recommended

Blue has fun naming the shapes: tree, baby and snowman. And yes I repeatedly told him it was a gingerbread man, but he still insists its a baby.

So I let the paint dry. And I noticed that the ornaments got a little soggy. So I stuck them back in the oven for another hour.

And that effectively solved the problem, (but they probably only needed an extra half hour instead of a full hour)

Next up was to add a some ribbon to the top. I just used an yarn needle (since the eye is big enough to get the ribbon in) to pull it through the hole and than tied a knot at the top.

And here's how they look on our tree!

I love that its a beautiful handmade addition to our tree!

And I don't think there's anything better!