Updated December 2020
We have a great new way to decorate salt dough ornaments!
Big surprise, right? We always seem to be tweaking and experimenting with materials and techniques. This time, I decided to try combining two all-time favorites, melted crayon art and salt dough, thinking they might mix well.
And they do!
You can find the basic salt dough recipe and instructions on this post of 11 Salt Dough Crafts Kids Can Make. Plus it has a ton of other great salt dough ideas!
Salt Dough Ornaments for Kids
MATERIALS
- Salt dough ornaments
- Crayons (we also used a set of multicultural crayons)
- Washcloth (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Make salt dough ornaments
See my recipe for how to make the ornaments.
- Decorate with crayons!
At the end of the salt dough ornament baking period, take one ornament at a time out of the oven (per person) and draw on it with crayons.
Just as with melted crayon rocks and other melted crayon art, the crayons melt as they glide over the hot surface, leaving a thick and shiny waxy coating of vibrant color.
- Let Cool
Allow your ornaments to cool and dry before hanging them up.
The animal cookie cutters are a fun set I picked up at Ikea a while back.
Besides all the animals, we also decorated some snowflake ornaments with the melted crayon technique.
Some Helpful Tips
On Daphne’s ornaments, there ended up being a mix of melted crayon and not-quite melted crayon.
She worked a bit slower than the other two, and once the ornaments cool down, the crayon doesn’t melt as readily. You can put the partially finished ornament back into the oven to reheat, but she turned down that idea and was perfectly content to continue drawing on the ornaments as they were.
I decorated some myself, and especially liked how the metallic crayons melted and looked.
Note: We placed our ornaments on a washcloth to protect the table from the heat and the crayons. The salt dough wasn’t actually that hot (not like the rocks) and we could touch them with our bare hands. The washcloths probably weren’t necessary; a paper plate or a placemat might be plenty—anything you don’t mind getting crayon on.
We finally have our Christmas tree up and were able to hang all of our new ornaments (along with quite a few from years past).
More Salt Dough Ornaments for Kids:
- How to Make Salt Dough Ornaments with Sparkly Glass Beads
- Two Beautiful Ways to Make Christmas Salt Dough Ornaments
- How to Make Stamped Salt Dough Ornaments for Christmas
Looking for even more holiday crafts for your family? Check out our Holiday Arts and Crafts bundle from the Kids Art Spot! 12 fun holiday activities, each with a step-by-step video tutorial and printable instructions, plus 12 fun and festive drawing invitations to encourage your kids to think and draw creatively.
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