Salt Dough Ornaments

Hello! 

Happy Thursday!

Today I want to share a fun and easy project you can do with a special little kiddo... or on your own, whatever floats your boat.  I, of course, did this project with Lil' A, who's been home with a stomach bug this week and we both had so much fun!  I love the way his turned out, they look so cute on his tree... oh wait, I'm getting ahead of myself!  We made...

Don't you love the Moose?  Adam's Moose - bottom right corner - is my favorite!  Want to make a Moose of your own?  Or some cute ornaments to use with your Christmas packaging?  Let's get started then!

Here's what you'll need:
1.  4 C All Purpose Flour
2.  1 C Salt
3.  1.5 C Warm Water (I ended up using closer to 2 C)
4.  Mixing Bowl
5.  Rolling Pin
6.  Cookie Cutters
7.  Silicone Baking Mats or Baking Parchment Paper
8.  Cookie Sheets
9.  Toothpick or Skewer
10.  Bakers Twine, String, Ornaments Hangers
Optional:  Paint, Paint Brush, Viva Paint Pens, Markers, Sharpies, Glitter, Glue

Directions:

Find the cutest Little EVER.  Have him put on his Gingerbread apron and look cute.  Grab all your supplies.

Mix 4 Cups flour, 1 Cup Salt together in a large bowl.

Slowly pour in WARM water and knead dough, mixing well.

Do you see that face?  The disgusted one?  Ya, my Little does NOT like to get his hands messy.

Once it's all mixed, shape into a ball.  Well, it's kind of a ball...  It's supposed to be a ball... looks more like a clump...

I ended up using 1/2 the dough and saving the other half in an air tight container.  Put the dough on a non-stick surface (add a little bit of flour if necessary) and start rolling it out.

Try to get it around 1/8" thick and as even as possible.  I am not very good at rolling dough so ours was a little uneven...  The dough is super thick, so this part is a good arm work out!

Grab your cookie cutters and start cutting!  Try to position them so that there's not a lot of wasted dough.

 

Once all your shapes are cut, put them on your baking sheet (I kept them on the silicone baking mats, you can use parchment paper instead) and poke a hole at the top of the shape with either a toothpick or wooden skewer.

 

Now place them in the oven at 300 degrees for 1 hr.  Check on them at the hour, leave them in a little longer if they're not as hard as a rock.  I was amazed at how our cute little ornaments felt like cement!

 

Once your ornaments are done and cool, you can start decorating them!  Grab whatever you think you'll want to use: paint, paint brush, glitter, glue, sharpies, Viva Pens, water colors... options are endless!

Now start having fun! 

These will be used with Christmas packaging...  I used the Viva Pens to create the little dots around the edges of the scallop shapes. To make the letters, I used super small letter stamps and pushed them into the dough to leave an impression BEFORE I baked them.

I wasn't sure how detailed to make my Santa.  I ended up using a red Copic Marker to color in his hat, a black Millennium Marker for his boots and the White Viva Pen for his hat and beard.

I painted all of these ornaments with the Tattered Angels Glami Gold Glitter Paint.  I like that it's not a heavy paint, it's pretty sheer, so it gives it a nice sheen while still looking a little rustic.

I painted one of my Moose's with Antique Gold paint on his antlers and feet - I wanted him to have a dipped look, even though I couldn't actually dip him in the container due to his size.

Here's a close up of our forest friends...

Lil' A used water colors to paint all of his ornaments.  I LOVE how they turned out!  The color is so vibrant and fun and I love seeing how his little imagination worked with the different colors he used! 

I had him sign his name on the ornaments he made... I love that the "d" is backwards...

They are so cute on his tree, I love them!!  He does too!  He was so excited today when we were putting the strings on the ornaments that he was ready to make 100 more batches!

These are great little gifts, great time-pieces that we'll always be able to look back on and an inexpensive and fun Christmas décor!

Let me know if you get a chance to give these ornaments a try! 

Have a great Thursday!
Andrea