Making Salt Dough Ornaments is one of my favorite things to do at Christmas time. Crafts can be intimidating with your little one, but be encouraged, with the proper prep work and sense of humor you and your kiddo will have a great time!
Here is how we make our ornaments with an almost two year old...
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
2. Prepare ingredients ahead of time, if little hands will be helping to make the dough.
You will need: 1 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of salt and 1/2 cup of warm water.You will probably not need quite all this water, but this is a good estimate.
3. Pour salt and flour either in a large bowl or in a zip-lock bag. I thought the zip lock back would be easier, it was in some ways because it meant one less thing for me to wash, but my toddler wasn't as into mixing the ingredients as I wanted him to be. After salt and flour are mixed add a little water add a time and knead together to get to a dough consistency.
4. I put down a plastic cutting board under the dough. Your dough should not be sticky it should have a smooth consistency before you start rolling it out or it will stick to the rolling pin and the cutting board.
Little ones will need some assistance to get the dough thin enough. I let my son roll it and I press down on the roller as he rolls it. Your dough can be as thick as you like, but probably 1/2" thick seems to cook well and be a good thickness. (Too thin and it will not cook well.)
5. Cookie cutter fun!
6. Take a straw and poke a hole at the top of the ornaments. (to put string in the ornaments after they are painted and cooked.)
7. Have a cookie sheet with parchment paper ready for the ornaments to go on after they have been cut out.
8. Put dough back together into a ball and have it rolled out again.
9. Place ornaments slightly spaced apart, just be sure they aren't touching or they may stick together.
10. Bake for two hours.
(About half way through take ornaments out and flip them over.)
After the ornaments have cooked they will need to get to room temperature before they can be painted. We waited to paint ours until the next day, but you could make the ornaments and cook them in the morning and paint them in the afternoon.
LATER THAT DAY or the NEXT DAY...
Materials needed: Acrylic paints (assorted colors), paper plates, paint brushes, paint shirts, water cup, wipes (ready and open in case of emergency), paper towels
11. Place ornaments to be painted on paper plate. (I also wrap my sons highchair tray with a garbage bag to be safe. We paint with acrylic paints, so you will need to pay extra attention to your little ones during painting. Acrylic paint will NOT wash out of clothes and it is not good for children to ingest or get on their skin of you can help it.)
I usually limit his colors at the beginning of painting, I wouldn't put all the colors on the paper plate right away unless you want a brown ornament. I hold the plate with the paint on it to keep my toddler from getting too much paint and keep him from painting the paint plate instead of the ornament.
Allow ornaments to dry completely after they have been painted.
Painted ornaments!
The rest of the work will be done by you as the adult. Children should not handle the clear spray paint, there are harmful fumes and this should be done in a well ventilated area, outside on a dry day. If it is raining or went outside the ornament will not dry properly. Spray one side of ornament and allow to dry and then turn over and spray the other side. Ornament should be completely sealed with the clear spray.
I also like to write with either acrylic paint, or bubble paint the year and the name of the child who made the ornament. This can be done before you spray it so the year and name are sealed as well.
Attach a ribbon or string through the hole in the ornament and they are ready to hang on the tree or give as gifts!
Hope it works out for you! Happy crafting! Remember it doesn't have to "Pinterest perfect" to be a successful craft!
