Here are 11 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 11 great salt dough 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
1. Lacy Salt Dough Ornaments
Use a straw to punch holes and create a lacy appearance in your salt dough ornament.
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!
3. Salt Dough Ornaments with Sparkly Glass Beads
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 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!
5. Handmade Holiday Spice Garland from CreationSpace
Ali invited her girls to add spices that smell like Christmas into their salt dough. They created a beautiful Christmas garland with the ornaments they made.
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 and then string together! 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 look 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. It’s also an easy gift for family members!
10. Handmade Woodgrain Tree Ornaments from Sparkle Living
Press wood into salt dough to transfer the texture of the wood grain for a gorgeous tree ornament.
11. Sparkly Painted Handmade Ornaments from The Best Ideas For Kids
After making your salt dough ornaments, try this method of painting and adding glitter in the same color!
Our Favorite Salt Dough Recipe
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Our Favorite Salt Dough Recipe
- 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
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup salt
- 1 cup cold water (+ extra if needed)
Instructions
- Mix flour with salt then stir in water. If the dough doesn’t come together, add a little more water.
- 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 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.
- 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.
- (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!
More Christmas Craft Ornament Ideas for Kids
- 20 Homemade Christmas Ornaments The Whole Family Can Make
- 5 Natural Christmas Decorations for Kids
- How to Make 3D Paper Star Ornaments
- How to Make a Christmas Craft with Popsicle Sticks
- How to Make Cinnamon Ornaments
- How to Make a Dried Orange Garland
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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