Updated December 2020
I’ve been making all kinds of salt dough ornaments lately—beaded ones and lacy ones, stamped ones, and even colorful ones!
It’s the salt dough time of year!
These beaded ones are probably my favorite, though. So beautiful hanging in the window with the light streaming through! Or sparkling on the Christmas tree with white lights behind and all around.
You’ll find my recipe for salt dough at the bottom of this post. And if you love salt dough as much as I do, check out my post of 11 Salt Dough Crafts Kids Can Make!
How to Make Salt Dough Ornaments
MATERIALS
- Salt Dough (see my recipe below)
- Parchment paper
- Rolling pin
- Cookie cutters
- Straw or other tool to make holes for hanging ornaments
- Glass beads
- Mod Podge
INSTRUCTIONS
- Roll out your dough
Place a fist-size piece of dough on a sheet of parchment paper and cover with a second sheet of parchment paper. Roll out with a rolling pin to an 1/8 – 1/4 inch thick.
- Cut out your shapes
Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes. With cookie cutters still in place (ideal) or after you take them out, pull away the extra dough from around the shapes, leaving the shapes in place on the parchment paper.
- Make a hole for hanging (optional)
Use the end of a drinking straw to poke a hole at the top of each ornament for hanging.
- Decorate!
Poke glass beads into the dough to create a jeweled or stained glass effect.
- Bake your ornaments
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.
- Seal or paint your ornament (optional)
Add a coat of Mod Podge or some paint (we like BioColor paint for these) and glitter, if you’d like.
- Hang up your ornaments and admire!
Add a ribbon through the hole and hang in the window or on the tree!
Once we baked the ornaments, we hung the suncatcher-like ones in the window and admired the sunlight shining through the glass beads.
The ornaments with the tiny glass beads got a coat of Mod Podge, both to add a protective coat to the dough and to help hold the tiny beads in place. These little beads stay on the surface of the salt dough and don’t have the same suncatcher effect as the bigger beads, but they are still beautiful!
Aren’t they pretty? I just love them!
How to Make Salt Dough + Salt Dough Recipe
I also included my favorite salt dough recipe with the basic instructions because I know you’ll want to get right to making your own salt dough ornaments after seeing these lovely ornaments!
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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
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
More Salt Dough Ornament Crafts for Kids
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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