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I was debating on weather to purchase cheap Christmas ornaments or attempt to make my own, but when I stumbled upon Katy Elliot’s Blog about Salt Dough Ornaments I was sold. There are minimal ingredients and the process is so simple I tried them that night and by the next morning I had an adorable and fully decorated tree. All you need to make these fabulous ornaments are a little flour some salt and good old fashion H2O. You use equal parts of flour and salt for every one part of water.

For example Katy Elliot’s Recipe is

1/2 cup of salt

1/2 cup flour

1 cup water

The recipe can easily be doubled or tripled depending on how many ornaments you want to make. But the 1 cup batch makes more than enough ornaments for a small sized tree. I made around 20 ornaments.

HOW TO:

To make the ornaments mix the ingredients together until the dough is sticky. Have a little extra flour on hand to powered your work space and hands while your work with the dough.

I had some cute Christmas cookie cutters I found at the thrift store last year and was super jazzed at the opportunity to finally use them. Being a very inexperienced baker I apply extra flour as needed to keep the dough easy to work with.

Roll out the dough on a flat surface and use your cookie cutters to cut out fun festive shapes. Be sure to make a hole for the ribbon. I used a plastic drinking straw, but if you would like a smaller hole use a skewer or a toothpick.

When you are done with your shapes place them on a cookie sheet and bake them at 200 degrees for 4-6 hours or leave them in over night if you like. If you have left over dough you can refrigerate the dough in an air tight container. I made 2 separate batches. If you hand mold your own shapes instead of using cookie cutters you may need to increase your drying time.

Some of my ornaments cracked a little bit after baking because I used a little too much flour and it dried out he dough. If  your dough is too dry you can wet your hands and gradually work in more water.

Cool ornaments completely before decorating.

These ornament are not eatable and can not get wet. To make your ornaments last longer they need to be sealed with 3-4 very thin coats of polyurethane gloss varnish. Cover the ornament completely you want to be sure no moisture can get in.

I did not paint or add any decorations to my ornaments I like the ‘raw’ look. So I just tied some ribbon and hung them on my tree. When my niece came over the next day she asked if she could eat them because they looks like cookies.

With a little bit of practice and creativity your salt dough ornament could be an easy homemade Christmas gift.

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