I would like to share with you all a fun craft and recipe courtesy of Trish who blogs at Mom On Timeout. We used to make these for Christmas tree ornaments when I was a kid, and I love that she shows us how this recipe can be enjoyed year round!!
This craft is so much fun for kids of all ages. My 2 year old was actively involved in making the dough, cutting the shapes, and painting. The best part about this craft is that you probably have all the necessary items on hand AND they are very inexpensive. The only limit to what you can do with salt-dough is your imagination. Think jewelry, beads, wands, ornaments, etc. So let’s get started!
Dough:
1 c all purpose flour
1 c salt
1 c lukewarm water
Directions:
Combine flour and salt. Slowly add in the water until the dough is nice and firm. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes (recruit kids if needed). Let the dough rest for 40 minutes before rolling out.
When the dough is ready, roll out to ¼ inch thick on a smooth surface.
- Add flour to dough or rolling pin if the dough is too sticky.
- Unused dough can be stored in an air-tight container or plastic bag for up to five days.
Cut out your desired shapes using any tools you want (knife, cookie cutters, biscuit cutter, templates, etc.) After cutting out your desired shape you can poke holes or draw lines on the dough to decorate your shapes.
Optional: Poke a hole at the base of your shape. After cooking, use a little glue on the end of the stick and insert it into your shape to create a wand. To make ornaments or beads, poke a hole through your shape so that you can loop ribbon or string through after decorating.
Place cut shapes on greaseproof paper (parchment paper) on a baking sheet. Heat oven to 250 degrees and bake for 4-6 hours or until the dough is hard and dried out. Flip shapes during cooking to keep them flat. Check both sides of the shape for hardness. Shapes need to cool completely prior to decorating.
Or…
Air Dry Option: Place tray of cut shapes outside to dry. This took me four days to get them hard enough but it’s free!
The next step is decorating. You can use virtually anything: poster paints, water paints, acrylic paint, beads, glitter, glue, and any other doo-dads you want to adhere to the salt-dough formations.
Let your decorations dry and tada – your works of art are finished!
Visit Trish at Mom On Timeout for more fun ideas… and thanks for sharing this awesome craft with us Trish!
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This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here. Tagged as:
Guest Post,
Kids Craft,
Salt Dough Ornaments
I finally got my Sis-in-law talked into sharing some of her fun ideas … aren’t these darling?
The melted brown sugar works like glue.
