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    Home » Salt Dough Ornament Recipe

    November 30, 2014 By Ruth V. 55 Comments

    Salt Dough Ornament Recipe

    This post may contain affiliate links. Click here for more information.

    If you want to preserve your child's handprints, footprints and more, you'll love our salt dough ornament recipe. You can create little keepsakes that you'll treasure for years to come.

    salt dough ornament recipe

    Salt Dough Ornament Recipe

    My son's preschool was doing a winter fundraiser where they took the kids' handprints and turned them into little cut-out Santas. They were adorable, but I wanted to be able to preserve his little 2-year-old handprint on something sturdier than paper. That's when I remembered that I'd seen some friends on Instagram making salt dough ornaments. That would be perfect! They are so easy to make and you probably have most of the salt dough ornament recipe ingredients in your pantry (YAY for free crafts!). Since I made a pretty large batch of dough, I got a bit more creative and decided to do a few other ornaments as well, including a super cute Olaf from Frozen, a reindeer, a dove, and even some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ornaments.

    Here's what you'll need for your Salt Dough Ornament Recipe:

    • 1 cup of salt
    • 2 cups of flour
    • 1 cup of water
    • acrylic paint
    • paintbrushes
    • ribbon

    Feel free to cut this recipe in half if you only want to do about 4 handprints or so (depending on their size of course; you could do a lot more if you're making smaller ornaments).

    Directions: 

    In a mixing bowl, combine your salt and flour, then start adding your water. You might not need the full cup, or you might need a bit more. You want your dough to be well mixed, but not too sticky or wet. Knead away until it's a smooth dough ball. My little guy loved the kneading part!

    Once it's well combined, divide the dough in half or fourths and roll it out with a rolling pin. For my ornaments, I made large circles by turning glass prep bowls upside down and using them as cutters, then had my little guy press his hand or foot into the dough. Here's a tip, when it's time for footprints, line your cookie sheet with a silicone baking mat and put the dough directly on it and place it on the floor for them to step onto. It makes it much easier for everyone. I L-O-V-E the silicone mats - they are SO much cheaper than Siplat brand and work just as well.

    Get the supplies: 

    AmazonBasics Silicone Baking Mat - 2 PackAmazonBasics Silicone Baking Mat - 2 PackApple Barrel Acrylic Paint Set, 18 PieceApple Barrel Acrylic Paint Set, 18 PiecePaint Brush SetPaint Brush Set

     

    Feel free to get creative and makes shapes and characters that speak to your family. My son is a Disney fanatic, so I knew he'd love to see Mickey Mouse and Olaf adorn our tree.

    salt dough Once you've got your ornaments cut out, make sure you poke a hole somewhere on them so you can thread ribbon through to hang them on your tree. That's a pretty important step that you can't do later, so don't forget. I used a straw to cut small circular holes in my ornaments. I ended up with two trays of ornaments - the ones you see above, and another tray with more handprints (gifts for grandparents - score!) and a bunch of small circles to make Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ornaments (coming soon).

    Once you've got your shapes set, bake them at 200 degrees for around 3 hours. I left mine in for 2.5 hours and thought they were done even though they were slightly tacky on the back side (silly me), and after I let them dry overnight, they curled a bit. That was kind of a bummer - so heed my warning - make sure they've dried all the way through. Once you've taken them out of the oven and let them cool for a few hours you'll be ready to paint them.

    salt dough Christmas ornaments

    The beauty of making your own ornaments is that you can do whatever you'd like. I wanted to do something to capture my toddler's handprint and footprint, so the Santa and reindeer were perfect for that, but there are all sorts of ideas out there - just do a quick search of "salt dough ornaments" and you'll find tons! I snapped a picture of the cute Santa crafts they were doing at my little guy's school so I just recreated that here, and the reindeer was a spin on something that I had done last year (when I made my hubby a little reindeer card from my cutie).

    salt dough handprint footprint

    To make my cute little Olaf, I basically just searched for an image of him then freehand designed his body and painted him accordingly. It's good to have a variety of small/medium sized paintbrushes on hand for this to do the detailed painting. I bought a cheap multi-pack, and all the paints were about $0.50 each, so that wasn't too bad at all. You can't really tell from the photos since they're straight on, but Olaf has a nice protruding carrot nose and everything.

    salt dough ornament

     So, what do you think of our salt dough ornament recipe?
    Will you be making salt dough ornaments with your little ones? 

    trolls ornament

    Also, check out our Trolls ornaments

    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ornaments

    And, our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Salt Dough Ornaments too!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Lindsey Galvez says

      November 30, 2014 at 7:47 am

      I'll be making these with my girls for sure - we need more ornaments with color for our tree and they would LOVE making their own! Pinning so I remember when my daughter is off for Christmas break soon!

      Reply
    2. Sam says

      November 30, 2014 at 8:24 am

      My 11 year old daughter and I did some last night. We used a slightly different recipe. She made cats in various colors for her tree. I did fish, stars, and trees for my 1 year old's tree, and butterflies and flowers for my other tree. It is so much fun, and cheap!

      Reply
    3. Anna M says

      November 30, 2014 at 11:05 am

      Thank you for posting this. It's a great idea for something to do when the kids are home from school!

      Reply
    4. Amber Ludwig says

      November 30, 2014 at 1:32 pm

      Super cute and kid friendly! Love the footprint one!! Will remind me when my guy's feet were tiny 😉 cuz we all know that doesn't last!

      Reply
    5. Jessica Cali says

      November 30, 2014 at 4:56 pm

      This Olaf is the absolute CUTEST!! I think I'll be making him soon!

      Reply
    6. Kara says

      November 30, 2014 at 9:42 pm

      The ornaments made by family members are always the ones you never want to throw away. I'm definitely going to try this for Christmas this year.

      Reply
    7. Carol L says

      December 01, 2014 at 9:44 am

      Oh these are precious. I love the tip about the baking pan. I definitely will have to get the grankids together so we can do some o these. Thanks so much for the post.
      Carol L
      Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com

      Reply
    8. Holly Arjona says

      December 01, 2014 at 2:21 pm

      SO cute!! I am going to try this with my kids. Hopefully it turns out as good as yours:)

      Reply
    9. Suzanne Michele says

      December 01, 2014 at 4:59 pm

      These are really cute! I'll have to try them with my son.

      Reply
    10. Jay Malone says

      December 02, 2014 at 9:17 am

      This is fantastic - I think we'll be doing this with the kiddo this weekend!

      Reply
    11. Tran Steel says

      December 03, 2014 at 7:57 pm

      These were a hit last year. O think this year besides the handprint, we might mod podge a photo on the back too.

      Reply
    12. Lisa Coomer Queen says

      December 05, 2014 at 9:38 am

      This is such a neat idea! I think I will have my grandchildren over (all 8) and do this. Could become a tradition! Thank you so much!

      Reply
    13. Minta Boggs says

      December 12, 2014 at 12:21 pm

      This is absolutely adorable! I would love to make some this yr

      Reply
    14. Shary says

      December 16, 2014 at 3:12 am

      We love salt dough! You can do anything with it!

      Reply
    15. Dee Lafrenz says

      February 06, 2015 at 9:11 pm

      I love the idea of the footpints and handprints. What a wonderful Christmas present.

      Reply
    16. Sabrina Wilmot says

      October 27, 2015 at 12:19 pm

      I will be making these with my kids! Thank you for the recipe and tips!

      Reply
    17. Toscha says

      November 04, 2015 at 4:49 am

      This is so cute. I have done the paper hands and feet many of times in fact I think I have done that craft for the past 5-7 years and my daughter is 8 now LOL time for something new. My daughter is suppose to knead progressive OT puddy for her hands so kneading this dough will be a great way to get some extra OT in without her knowing that she is doing it. I homeschool her so this covers many subject areas for us as well. Bonus!!!! Plus we just moved into a new apartment this year so we need some new decorations for Christmas that way Santa knows where she is now living. Yes we sent Santa a letter already letting him know about our new address but these hand crafted decorations will help Santa find her a little easier. Thank you for sharing. I can see us doing these for other holidays that come up like Easter eggs. Looks like my cookie cutters will be used a good bit this year all because of this. Thank you

      Reply
    18. Katie Evans says

      November 30, 2015 at 12:03 pm

      Hi! I run a childcare center and am wondering, if I make the dough the night before, and store it in a leftover container, will we be able to use it the next day?

      Reply
    19. joni says

      December 20, 2015 at 4:23 am

      Warning with these. Do not let your pets near these. Can be very fatal. This just happened in our neighborhood. So very sad. They are like poison to dogs. http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/national/family-sends-warning-after-dog-dies-following-inge/npmjh/ Just passing on info.

      Reply
    20. Suzanne Holt says

      December 25, 2015 at 12:58 pm

      Great personalized touch to include the handprints!

      Reply
    21. Maggie Jakubczak says

      November 08, 2016 at 11:53 am

      Thanks for sharing this! It is one of my favorite memories as a child and will have my children make their own memories this winter too! I also appreciate the previous poster sharing about the danger for animals! - noted.

      Reply
    22. Lisa Garland says

      November 12, 2016 at 9:35 am

      These are so cute, I love them all. My niece and nephew are gonna stay a couple days with me and I think we will make these, they will love it. Thanks for sharing!!

      Reply
    23. Rachel says

      November 18, 2016 at 1:52 pm

      my kids would go nuts for Olaf! thank you for sharing. Can't waiting to try these!

      Reply
    24. Kathryn Cooper says

      November 19, 2016 at 4:41 am

      I have been meaning to make some salt dough ornaments,than you for this timely post!

      Reply
    25. Trisha pool says

      December 06, 2016 at 12:34 am

      These are precious...A keepsake forever!!

      Reply
    26. Juliet Cook says

      December 21, 2016 at 9:51 pm

      Thanks for this blog! My 4 year old came home with a salt dough santa from school. My 10 year old felt a liitle left out. So to pinterest I went. My nephew came over for the night and they all had fun making their own ornaments. My tree is full of homemade ornaments I have made, it was nice to add their own! Thanks again!

      Cook Familt

      Reply
      • Ruth V. says

        December 21, 2016 at 10:20 pm

        This is so wonderful to hear! Thank you so much for sharing!

        Reply
    27. LaRhonda A. says

      October 31, 2017 at 12:33 am

      Made these with my 3 year old granddaughter we did the footprint and hand but i let them bake 3hrs and they was still soft in the middle on back i hope they will still hold together because they are super cute.

      Reply
    28. Rosie says

      November 19, 2017 at 1:29 pm

      These are so nice! And they came out so cute they look store bought! And fun to make, too!

      Reply
    29. Sarah F says

      November 19, 2017 at 5:48 pm

      These are so cute! They would definitely make great gifts for the grandparents.

      Reply
    30. Brandy says

      December 01, 2017 at 11:50 pm

      Mine are puffing up. I don't know if I did anything wrong.

      Reply
      • Ruth V. says

        December 02, 2017 at 10:37 am

        Sometimes if they're too thick they'll puff up a bit. I learned this yesterday when I made another batch.

        Reply
    31. Jamie says

      December 20, 2017 at 10:48 am

      Hello, I am attempting to make 30 hand print Ornaments With my 15month old. Is this recipe enough or should I double it? Or even triple it? Not sure how many cup sized circles you can get out of this recipe.

      Reply
      • Ruth V. says

        December 20, 2017 at 11:08 am

        Hi! You'll probably want to make three batches for 30 handprints 🙂

        Reply
    32. Heather S says

      December 20, 2017 at 11:50 am

      These are ADORABLE!

      Reply
    33. Crystal dowden says

      December 13, 2018 at 6:09 pm

      What do u use to seal the oranments ??

      Reply
      • Ruth V. says

        December 15, 2018 at 5:58 am

        Hi Crystal, I didn't seal mine and they've held up well for the past 4 years. You could use a clear coat though!

        Reply
        • Linda says

          September 19, 2020 at 1:47 am

          I made these back in the 70's with a Campfire group. They lasted over 30 years !!!

          Reply
    34. Suzan says

      December 19, 2018 at 9:45 pm

      Did you use plain flour or self-rising?

      Reply
      • Ruth V. says

        December 20, 2018 at 10:23 pm

        Just plain flour. Hope that helps!

        Reply
    35. Carol Wittebol says

      November 04, 2019 at 9:20 am

      I used your recipe and instructions to make salt dough ornaments for Christmas with my three grandchildren this past weekend. It's easy and fun but ours took far more than 3 hours in the oven to dry! I ended up leaving them in over night to make sure they hardened. Other than that, we loved making them! Thanks for the idea!

      Reply
    36. Stacy Hull says

      November 11, 2019 at 9:31 am

      Do they need to be on a silicone matt or car I just place them of the pan?

      Reply
      • Amber says

        November 25, 2019 at 10:13 pm

        You can definitely place them right on the pan if you want, the silicone mats just make it easier to remove them when they're finished baking!

        Reply
    37. Cathy says

      November 24, 2019 at 6:11 am

      200 degrees is this Fahrenheit or Celsius?????? We use Celsius in Australia and 200 degrees C for 3 hours I think is pretty hot so I’m assuming it’s. Fahrenheit??? A slow cook?

      Reply
      • Amber says

        November 25, 2019 at 10:07 pm

        Yes it's 200 degrees Fahrenheit!!

        Reply
    38. Gina Sperry says

      December 09, 2020 at 10:18 am

      Hi! Thank you for the amazing recipe year after year. This year I have some extra dough left over. Can I freeze it?

      Reply
      • Amber says

        April 11, 2022 at 11:57 am

        I've honestly never tried freezing it before! I feel like it would likely dry out and not be usable, but you could always give it a try!

        Reply
    39. RosemaryGilvin says

      December 10, 2020 at 2:18 pm

      Do these need to be baked right away? I am making them with my preschool class, but I want to take them home to bake them.

      Reply
      • Ruth V. says

        December 11, 2020 at 6:47 am

        No! You can bake them after a few hours if needed.

        Reply
    40. Tee says

      December 11, 2020 at 5:14 pm

      How do I ensure they are dried enough and ready to come out of the oven?

      Reply
      • Amber says

        April 11, 2022 at 11:56 am

        When they are hard to the touch and no longer look moist, they're ready to come out of the oven!

        Reply
    41. Kathy says

      December 12, 2020 at 8:28 am

      Can I use parchment paper instead of a silicone mat?

      Reply
      • Amber says

        April 11, 2022 at 11:56 am

        Yes, that should work just fine!

        Reply
    42. Moira says

      December 20, 2020 at 12:08 pm

      Does the dough dry quickly after you mix it? I want to make the dough ahead of time, but don’t want it to dry out. Thanks!

      Reply
      • Amber says

        April 11, 2022 at 11:55 am

        It does dry out rather quickly! We always make it and use it right away (it doesn't take long to make!). Hope this helps!

        Reply

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