Easy Salt Dough For Ornaments and Handprints
If you want an easy activity to do with the kids to get them in the mood for the holidays, making salt dough ornaments is just what you need. It's simple, fun, and leaves you with something your kids can hang on the tree and feel proud of! You can also make handprints or footprints out of this just as easily. Made with 3 simple ingredients of plain flour, water and salt - perfect to make with kids and lasts for years.
Servings 20 ornaments
Equipment
- Stainless Steel Baking Trays
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup table salt
- ¾ cup warm water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F/ 150°C.
- Take a large bowl and mix the flour and salt.
- Add warm water bit by bit while slowly stirring. Stir until a dough starts forming. If it is too loose add a bit more flour, if it is too firm add a tiny bit of water until you get the right consistency.
- Lay the dough between two pieces or parchment paper and use a rolling pin to flatten it out until it is about ¼ inch (approx. ½ cm) thick.
- Take cookie cutters and cut out the shapes you need. If you want to make a handprint you can use a large teacup or a bowl to make a round shape and then let your child print their hand onto it.
- Use a chopstick, straw or skewers to make holes at the top of each shape if you will be using them as hanging ornaments. You can also use a fork or a toothpick if you want to add any decorations before baking.
- Tranafer to parchment paper and bake for an hour. They should be hard when they come out.
- Once cooled, paint them or decorate them. Once dry from decorating thread a ribbon on them and hang them around your hole.
Notes
- Non-edible!
- Use the cheapest flour and salt you can find as it really does not make a difference
- If you think the dough is puffing up, reduce heat and bake for longer than the indicated time
- If the dough is still soft after an hour of baking bake for a little longer
- Let the ornaments fully cool before paining them
- Use non-toxic paint as it will most likely end up on skin and maybe even a kid's mouth.
- Store them in bubble wrap between holidays to reduce their moisture exposure