Make Festive Salt Dough Ornaments With Preschoolers This Holiday Season 

 

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Get ready to make the quintessential holiday craft with little ones in your life—salt dough ornaments. In this blog post, we share an easy recipe for salt dough ornaments and offer our best tips and tricks for making decorations (and memories) that will last for years to come. Read on to find out more.  

How to Make Salt Dough Ornaments

Salt dough ornaments have been a favorite holiday craft for decades, and it’s easy to see why. They are…

• Easy to make with young children 
• Require only a few supplies 
• Last for years and years

First, we’ll take a look at what supplies you need to make salt dough ornaments and share the basic recipe below. 

Here’s what you will need: 

• Mixing bowl
• Large spoon 
• Rolling pin
• Cookie cutters
• Straw or skewer  
• Baking sheets
• Parchment paper

Here’s the salt dough recipe: 

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup salt 
• ¾ cup water, more if necessary

Instructions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 250˚F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk flour and salt together to combine. 
3. Gradually add water, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough is well-combined, soft, and easy to work with. When the dough becomes too stiff to mix with a spoon, bring it together with clean hands. Alternatively, you can use a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment to mix the dough. 
4. If using your hands, continue to knead the dough on a lightly-floured surface until well-combined. 
5. Roll out the dough to ¼” thickness on a lightly-floured surface or between 2 sheets of parchment paper. 
6. Press cookie cutters into the dough to make desired shapes. 
7. Use a straw or skewer to punch a hole in each dough shape from which to hang the ornament. 
8. Transfer the salt dough shapes to a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Bake time will depend on the size and thickness of each dough shape. Ornaments are finished baking when they are firm and no longer squishy. 
9. Remove from oven and cool.
10. Decorate, as desired. 

How to Customize Your Ornaments 

One of the wonderful things about salt dough ornaments is how you can customize them to really make them your own. Here are a few ways you may want to add your family’s unique twist to the basic salt dough recipe and process: 

• Press your child’s hand or foot into a round salt dough shape to make a handprint or footprint keepsake. 
• Use acrylic craft paint or washable tempura paint, based on the age and ability of your children, to paint the salt dough ornaments. 
• Add a few drops of essential oils to the dough, such as peppermint oil, to make scented ornaments. 
• Add food coloring to the dough to make colored ornaments. 
• Stir glitter into the dough before rolling or spray/paint glitter onto the finished ornaments and seal to make sparkly ornaments. 

These are only a few of the many ways you can customize your salt dough ornaments!

Ornaments Tips and Tricks 

Here are our best tips and tricks for making salt dough ornaments with little ones:

• If the dough is too wet or sticky, add flour by the tablespoon. If the dough is too stiff, add water by the tablespoon. 
• Use a 4 or 5-inch round cookie cutter for handprint ornaments. 
• Use baker’s twine or holiday ribbon to hang ornaments. 
• Use a lollipop stick, straw, or kebob skewer to make a hole in each ornament for the ribbon. 
• Check salt dough in the oven every 20 to 30 minutes until dough is firm to the touch. 
• Let ornaments cool completely before painting. 
• Let one paint color dry completely before working with another paint color. 
• If ornaments get puffy/rise in the oven, reduce the oven temperature and extend the bake time. 
• If you make salt dough in advance, it will keep fresh in an airtight container in the refrigerator for one week. 
• Use Mod Podge or sealer after decorating to preserve salt dough ornaments. 

We hope you and the little ones in your life will enjoy making salt dough ornaments together this holiday season!

Wishing you a warm and wonderful holiday from all of us at Honest Buck Accounting.