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10 Salt Dough Decoration Ideas for Christmas

by Jean Van't Hul
October 12, 2024
salt dough featured

Here are 10 salt dough decoration ideas that kids can make this Christmas season to connect creatively as a family. Try one today!

Updated October 2024

The holidays are a wonderful time to come together as a family to celebrate traditions and connect through creativity. A holiday tradition that we love is making salt dough ornaments at Christmas.

There are so many different ways to make these!

Here are 10 great ornament ideas to inspire your family this holiday season. Be sure to check out our favorite salt dough recipe at the end to help you get started.

Salt Dough Decoration Ideas for Kids

lacy salt dough ornaments-2
Photo by Jean Van’t Hul

1. Lacy Salt Dough Ornaments

Use a straw to punch holes and create a lacy appearance in your ornament.

melted crayon ornament
Photo by Andrea Martelle

2. Painted Salt Dough Ornaments

Use crayons to paint warm ornaments fresh out of the oven. This creates a bright, vibrant painted design that’s so fun for kids!

beaded salt dough
Photo by Jean Van’t Hul

3. Sparkly 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.

stamped salt dough
Photo by Andrea Martelle

4. Stamped Ornaments

This is an easy one! Gather some stamps and press the designs into the dough (with or without ink). Kids love this fun spin on traditional ornament making!

scented salt dough stars
Photo by CreationSpace

5. Handmade Holiday Spice Ornaments from CreationSpace

Add spices that smell like Christmas into your salt dough. They created a beautiful Christmas garland with the ornaments they made.

star garland
Photo by Andrea Martelle

6. Create a Salt Dough Garland

Cut out a bunch of stars (or hearts, or trees) with cookie cutters and then string together! There’s a beautiful simplicity in stringing together a handmade garland of the same shaped ornaments.

rainbow salt dough
Photo by The Imagination Tree

7. Rainbow Glitter Ornaments from The Imagination Tree

This rainbow dough creates a beautiful, marbled look when rolled out that will brighten up any Christmas tree.

cinnamon ornaments
Photo by Anna Harpe

8. Cinnamon Ornaments

These technically aren’t salt dough, but we love to make this delicious smelling ornaments every year. They are simple to make, with cinnamon, applesauce, and white glue!

glitter ornaments
Photo by Andrea Martelle

9. Sparkly Painted Handmade Ornaments from The Best Ideas for Kids

After making your ornaments, try painting them and then adding glitter in the same color!

nature print ornaments
Photo by Jean Van’t Hul

10. Nature Printed Ornaments

We love making nature printed ornaments in air-dry clay, so why not try it with salt dough?! These lovely prints are perfect for hanging up all year long.

Try Our Favorite Recipe

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Salt Dough rolled out

Our Favorite Salt Dough Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews
  • Author: The Artful Parent
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 3 hours
  • Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
  • Category: crafts

Description

We’ve tried so many salt dough crafts and made lots of variations of salt dough ornaments over the years. Here’s our favorite salt dough recipe with instructions to get you started.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup salt
  • 1 cup cold water (+ extra if needed)

Instructions

  1. Mix flour with salt then stir in water. If the dough doesn’t come together, add a little more water. 
  2. Turn out the salt dough onto a countertop and work together with your hands until evenly mixed. 
  3. Store in a plastic bag in the fridge until ready to use.
  4. 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 1/8 – 1/4 inch thick.
  5. 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.
  6. Use the end of a drinking straw, a skewer, or a chopstick to poke a hole at the top of each ornament for hanging.
  7. If you plan to decorate the ornaments, do that step now. 
  8. Gently move the sheet of parchment paper with salt dough ornaments onto a cookie sheet at bake in a 250F oven for 2-3 hours or until the salt dough is hard, but not browned. Let cool.
  9. (Optional) Add a coat of Mod Podge or some paint (we like BioColor paint for these) and glitter.
  10. Add a ribbon through the hole and hang in the window or on the tree!

More Christmas Craft Ornament Ideas for Kids

Want even more creative ideas?

Check out our Holiday Creativity pack!

Let’s celebrate the holidays with all things crafty! Here are 53 pages full of our favorite drawing prompts, creative play ideas, art activities, and more!

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10 Salt Dough Decoration Ideas for Christmas 10 Salt Dough Decoration Ideas for Christmas 10 Salt Dough Decoration Ideas for Christmas

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