Updated December 2020
A favorite holiday tradition in our family (one that we’ve done many years in a row) is to make salt dough ornaments at Christmas.
There are so many ways to make these and my girls and I have tried a number of versions such as lacy ornaments, a melted crayon version, beaded handmade ornaments and stamped salt dough ornaments.
The holidays are a wonderful time to draw close together as a family to celebrate traditions and connect through creativity.
I wanted to share my new and improved salt dough roundup packed with ideas to hopefully inspire you and your family this Christmas. And don’t miss my salt dough recipe at the end––this is the one I settled on after testing out a few and is my favorite.
Enjoy!
11 Salt Dough Ornaments for Kids
1. Lacy Salt Dough Ornaments
Here are two fun and easy salt dough ornament ideas. Use a straw to punch holes and create a lacy appearance in the dough. Or press in beads for a stained glass effect.
2. Melted Crayon Painted Ornaments
Combine two favorite craft techniques by painting with crayons on warm ornaments fresh out of the oven. This creates a bright, vibrant painted design that’s so fun for kids!
3. Beaded Suncatcher Ornaments
Add beads of different shapes and sizes for a jeweled effect! These look beautiful on a Christmas tree or hung in the window as suncatchers.
4. Stamped Salt Dough Ornaments
This is a fun one! Gather some stamps and press the designs into the dough (with or without ink). Kids love this fun spin on the traditional ornament making!
5. Handmade Holiday Spice Garland from Creation Space
Ali invited her girls to scoop in spices that smell just like Christmas and mix into their salt dough. They created a beautiful Christmas garland with the ornaments they made together.
6. Melted Bead Suncatcher Ornaments from Homegrown Friends
This ornament is a colorful mixture of salt dough meets suncatcher! A fun version for older kids to try.
7. Christmas Scented Salt Dough Ornaments from Rocky Hedge Farm
Cut out a bunch of stars, or hearts or trees with cookie cutters. There’s a beautiful simplicity in stringing together a handmade garland of the same shaped ornaments.
8. Rainbow Glitter Salt Dough from The Imagination Tree
This rainbow dough creates a beautiful marbled looked when rolled out that will brighten up any Christmas tree.
9. DIY Handprint Ornament from You’re So Martha
This is such an easy way to create a personalized keepsake of your kids––or gift for family members.
10. Handmade Woodgrain Tree Ornaments from Sparkle Living
Press wood into salt dough to transfer the texture of the grain with this gorgeous tree ornament.
11. Sparkly Painted Handmade Ornaments from The Best Ideas For Kids
After making ornaments, try this method of painting and adding glitter in the same color to create these gorgeous sparkly ornaments!
My Favorite Salt Dough Recipe
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My Favorite Salt Dough Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
- Category: crafts
- Cuisine: n/a
Description
We’ve tried so many salt dough crafts and made lots of variations of salt dough ornaments over the years. Here’s my favorite salt dough recipe with instructions to get you started.
Ingredients
- 4 cups flour
- 1 cup salt
- 1 1/2 cups cold water (+ extra 1/4 cup of water if needed)
Instructions
- Mix flour with salt then stir in water. If the dough doesn’t come together, add another 1/4 cup of water or so.
- Turn out the salt dough onto a countertop and work together with your hands until evenly mixed.
- Store in a plastic bag in the fridge until ready to use.
- Place a fist-size piece of dough on a sheet of parchment paper and cover with a second sheet of parchment paper. Roll dough out with a rolling pin to an 1/8 – 1/4 inch thick.
- Use cookie cutters to cut out the desired shapes. Pull away the extra dough from around the shapes with the cookie cutters still in place.
- Use the end of a drinking straw, a skewer, or a chopstick to poke a hole at the top of each ornament for hanging.
- If you plan to decorate the ornaments, do that step now. I recommend: a.) stamps and a stamp pad, b.) poking a pattern of holes in the dough with the end of a straw, c.) poking glass beads into the dough.
- Gently move the sheet of parchment paper with salt dough ornaments onto a cookie sheet at bake in a 275F oven for 2-3 hours or until the salt dough is hard, but not browned. Let cool.
- (Optional) Add a coat of Mod Podge or some paint (we like BioColor paint for these) and glitter.
- Add a ribbon through the hole and hang in the window or on the tree!
Keywords: salt dough ornaments, salt dough crafts
More DIY Christmas Ornament Ideas
- 25 Homemade Christmas Ornaments The Whole Family Can Make
- How to Make 3D Paper Star Ornaments
- Glitter Stars – A Simple Christmas Craft
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15 Comments
Cathy @ NurtureStore
November 4, 2014 at 9:11 amLovely collection! Thanks for including my little JOY.
Jean Van't Hul
November 4, 2014 at 9:43 amThanks, Cathy! And you’re so welcome! Love that little JOY! :)
MaryAnn F. Kohl, art book author and educator
November 4, 2014 at 11:52 amI’m getting excited about Christmas…thanks to you!! :) May I include ONE of your ornaments in my December ArtsyKidsNEWS with credit to you and a link to your blog? I’m thinking of “beaded salt dough ornaments”.
Jean Van't Hul
November 4, 2014 at 8:17 pmAbsolutely, MaryAnn! Btw, when is your new book coming out? Can’t wait to see what you and Barbara have come up with!
Katie Harding
November 6, 2014 at 9:03 amLove these, my boys will too, this is so perfect for a cold winter afternoon craft! These make sentimental gifts for grandparents too!
Meredith @ Homegrown Friends
November 6, 2014 at 10:34 amJean, what a lovely surprise to be included in your round up! Your site is such a source of inspiration to me. Thank you! You made my day brighter! Pinning and will share this week!
Karin/Pysselbolaget
November 11, 2014 at 1:29 amI’m totally inspired and surprised! I haven’t made salt dough since kindergarten and it didn’t look at all this good. Will have to try this with Freja soon. I’m certain she will love it!
Nicole
November 13, 2014 at 7:34 pmHow many ornaments will this recipe typically make?
Wendy
November 26, 2014 at 1:55 pmroughly 15, depending on the size of your ornaments
Jo Ellis
November 16, 2014 at 4:04 pmWhat are the best beads to use for saltdough decorations? Do they have to be glass or can they be plastic like hama beads please? Thanks in advance : )
katie
November 29, 2014 at 10:17 amWe used the plastic pony beads last year and they didn’t melt when we baked them in our ornaments.
katie
November 29, 2014 at 10:16 amWe decorated our tree Thanksgiving evening but the problem I had was most of our salt dough ornaments from last year were stuck to the tissue paper that sandwiched all of our ornaments in their box… We made your basic salt dough recipe ( some with pony beads and the rest painted) all coated with mod podge. So…. How does everyone store theirs over time so they don’t all end up in the trash ( luckily we had a whole batch so the ones we had to toss weren’t as sentimental)???????
jaymee
February 2, 2015 at 7:12 pmWe just made the melted crayon ones for Valentine’s! Thank you for the great ideas!
Diana
May 10, 2015 at 3:18 pmSalt dough Cat https://diy-100ideas.com/salt-dough-cat/
Teresa S Clegg
December 4, 2017 at 10:02 pmMade these with my son when he was 3 or 4 still have a few. He also remembers making them and trying to eat one. LOL He is now 22. He has his own home now and starting his own Christmas traditions I’m going to invite him and his girlfriend over and make new salt dough ornaments with them for them and myself this year. Make new memories and share some nice old ones too. At least this time he’ll know not to try and eat them. LOL thanks for your new ideas.