Salt Dough Ornaments

My daughter and I are always looking for things to make during the rainy days of summer. Unfortunately this year we haven't had many, however we have had a few day's where it has been way to hot to be outside. So we got creative and got out our craft supplies to see what we could make.

The first thing that came to mind was a craft that we had done years ago as Christmas presents, Salt Dough Ornaments. However this time we became a little more inventive and made them a little fancier since it has been 7 years since the last batch was made and her art skills have improved quite a bit since then. This is an activity that we also did a few weeks later with my 3 & 5 year old cousins children so it is very versatile and van really be done with any age group. It is also extremely inexpensive and would work well for large group craft projects like church groups or Girl/Boy Scouts.

Here is what you need to assemble to begin:

Salt Dough Ornaments

Materials:

• Cookie Cutters (plastic ones work fine if you are working with younger children)
• Cookie Sheet
• Rolling Pin
• Bamboo Skewer
• Cup of Water
• Paint Brush
• Ribbons, String or Twine
• Clear Glossy Spray Paint
• Heat Proof Decorations (Shells, Glitter, Sea Salt Glitter [Instructions Below] Pebbles, Marbles..anything that will not melt in the oven when cooked)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup Salt
• 1/2 Cup Flour
• 1/4 Cup Water (maybe less)
• Food Coloring 

1. Mix Flour and Salt together then add water and food coloring until a dough forms. Knead dough until food coloring is mixed through thoroughly.
2. Roll dough to about 1" and cut out shapes and place on cookie sheet.
3. Poke hole into shape where you will later be stringing a ribbon (or string/twine) to hang it. Make sure your hole is large enough to accommodate your ribbon or string.
4. Using the paint brush and a small amount of water wet the cut out dough shape and then decorate with your heat proof decorations. Make sure you press them into the dough so they will stay.The water will help they glitter adhere to the dough when it is baked. I do not advise mixing the glitter into the dough as you do not get enough of a sparkle effect.
5. Place cookie sheet into the oven at 200 degrees for 3 hours. This will dry out the dough. If they are still stuck to the cookie sheet place them back into the oven for another 30 minutes do not try to remove them.
6. Let cool completely. Then spray with one coat of a glossy clear spray paint. Make sure this is done in a well ventilated area and do not let the children assist with this step. This really makes a big difference in the finished appearance though so I do not advise skipping it.
7. Finally thread your ribbon/string/twine through the hole you had made and tie into a knot.

These make great Christmas/Birthday/Father's/Mother's Day Gifts and the possibilities are endless with them.
*You can make very large ones and use them in your garden as stepping stones decorated with mosaic tiles.
*You can imprint the image of your babies hand/foot print into them and use them as a baby's 1st Christmas Ornament.
*You can paint on them after they are baked too. However make sure you spray them with with glossy clear spray paint to seal in the paint. I recommend acrylic paint, we have used nail polish to decorate them also after baking.

Here are some of the ones that we made this time:

This is what they look like once they come out of the oven.

This is after they have been sprayed and the ribbon has been added.

The bear and the fish have marbled dough because we mixed the remaining colors together to get a tie-dye effect with the left over colors at the end.  

The frog with the heart in the picture at the top is simply two salt dough ornaments that have been hot glued together.

Sea Salt Glitter:

Ingredients:

• Coarse Sea Salt
• Liquid Food Coloring
• Cake pans

1. Place a small amount of Sea Salt into a cake pan with a couple drops of liquid food coloring and mix together until the salt is completely colored and is the color you desire.
2. Place into a 350 degree oven for approximately 10 minutes, until the food coloring dries out and salt is dry again.
3. Color will look dull however if you coat with a clear coat of paint or clear spray paint it really sparkles and looks quite nice.