Salt Dough Ornaments

One of my favorite things I had as a child was a subscription to a craft magazine.  Yes, I admit, I was, (and guess I still am) a dork! :) I've been crafty all my life!  I would check the mailbox daily for that magazine, even though it only came once a month.  I just couldn't wait to try everything in it!  Imagine my delight and fascination with the fact that we share this world with Pinterest and "blog-land!"  Talk about a dream come true!  

In this magazine I found the recipe for salt dough ornaments. I made a whole bunch and painted them up for my entire extended family. Aunts, Grandparents, the whole lot!  My mom still has hers on her Christmas tree, looking as bright and beautiful as the day I made them!  (Probably more than 20 years ago. That makes me sound so old...although this is my first year as someone who's NOT a twenty-something anymore... and yes, I'm slightly bothered by that!)

I had a few classes that were finished up with their Christmas artwork so we threw together some salt dough and made ornaments this week. I was most impressed with the durability of this recipe.  I had forgotten how sturdy they are.

The hardest part for them to remember was to keep their designs SIMPLE.  If they couldn't think of anything to make, I just asked them to make a round disc or a square, and they could decorate later.  The most basic shapes turned out looking great. 

Another challenging part was fitting them all on the pan... don't forgot to put holes for hanging.  I used a scratch-art stick but a toothpick works great too.

 An hour or so at 325 degrees and they were done and ready for decorating!  (After cooling of course.)

Again, we went with simple.  We all know that sometimes less is more....

Add a pretty ribbon and these are ready for the tree, even the unpainted ones!  

Need the recipe?  Here ya go! 

Salt Dough Recipe 

(1 recipe was usually enough for a class of 18 to 22 kids)

4 cups plain flour

1 cup salt

1 1/2 cups water

Stir together the flour and salt, adding water gradually until it reaches desired consistency.  Once you start mixing it gets stiff very quickly and you'll need to use your hands to finish kneading the dough.  I found that I had to add a little more water than the original recipe called for.  You can always add more, but add too much too quick and it's a MESS!  

Create your masterpiece and bake at 325 degrees for approximately 1 hour.  I started checking after 30 minutes since some students had smaller pieces.

Salt Dough (Half Recipe)

2 cups plain flour

1/2 cup salt

3/4 cup water

Hope you enjoy making your own salt dough ornaments!