This year the budget is tight for Christmas gifts do to our move that is upcoming. So I channeled my inner crafty self, it was deep in there, and decided to do homemade gifts this year. All the love and thought without the cost. Plus as an added bonus my toddler can help make them!
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Salt dough is so easy to make and you more than likely have everything needed to make these bad boys putting the cost at FREE.
What you will need:
- Flour
- Salt
- Medium sized bowl
- Parchment paper
- Rolling pin
- Cookie cutters (optional)
- Food coloring (optional)
- A good broom or a vacuum, flour manages to go everywhere.
So I started with 1 cup flour, 1 cup of salt, and 1 cup of water. I stirred the flour and salt together in a separate bowl and added it slowly to the water in another bowl. I continued stirring until everything was well mixed. If it’s a little too cookie dough like or real sticky add in small amounts of flour if it’s sticky and water if it’s runny to get the right texture.
Once mixed, I got parchment paper and placed a little flour down before I transferred the dough. This helps the dough from sticking. I also flour the rolling pin a little. Don’t have a rolling pin? Use a glass!
After this it’s super easy! Roll out as thick or thin as you want. However the thinner it is, the easier it is to dry. I prefer about 1/2 inch, thick enough to be sturdy but a shorter drying time.
We made a variety of ornaments! Using cookie cutters we made stars, snowflakes, lights, gingerbread men, and trees. I also used her handprint to make little Santa ornaments. We made two hand prints and about 15 ornaments. Once I cut them out from the dough I placed them on parchment paper to dry.
I chose to not use food coloring because I wanted my daughter to paint them to add a little more toddler flair. We just used crayola’s kids paint. We painted them after 24 hours. I plan to add a little glitter just to give them the extra sparkle. Most likely, I will use a clear colored glitter paint.
I mean look at these bad boys! One of a kind toddler art for family!
After about 10-12 hours I took a regular ole straw and poked a hole for the string to go. Be gentle in smaller areas because I had one crack unfortunately. Have no fear! It is fixable, with a little water on a paint brush, brush the edges of the crack on the ornament and the piece that fell off. This re moistens the dough and you can carefully mend them back together!
I also chose to air dry them which takes about 48 hours. Make sure to flip them after 24 hours so both sides dry evenly. You can place them in the oven at 200 for 4-6 hours depending on the thickness. This seemed like a waste to me plus air drying preserves the shape much better.
I once made a sign with salt dough and put them in the oven to dry and at 6 hours it still wasn’t dry and it had started to curve up at the corners. So I figured air drying was worth the wait!
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