Salt Dough Handprint Ornaments

Hand and footprint ornaments hanging on our Christmas tree

It's Draper's first Christmas so I wanted to do something special to remember it for us and our families. I've seen Salt Dough Handprint Ornaments online before and thought they were a really nice way to make a memory of your little one’s hand to cherish on the Christmas tree.

So I got the gals and babes together and we had an ornament making party. Typical moms, we didn't read the instructions beforehand so we didn't realize we had to cook the dough for upwards of 2 hours before painting them. So lets just say our party was extended over a couple of days to finish them off!

Not only will these ornaments look great hanging on your tree and you will smile every year you put them up but they also make for a perfect Christmas gift for your loved ones. :)

Ingredients

4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup salt

1.5 cups warm water

Acrylic Paint (any colour - I choose green, red and gold)

Sparkles

Clear Glue

Clear glaze or Mod Podge

Ribbon

Directions

• Preheat your oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

• Combine all of your ingredients and knead for 10 minutes. If your dough is too dry add a little bit more water in and continue to knead.

• Roll out the dough to a thickness that you'd like your salt dough ornament to be.

• Using a large cookie cutter (or any household products) cut out different shapes for your salt dough ornament.

• Have your child place their hand into the salt dough ornament. If the dough is too hard to get an imprint it may be too dry and you can continue to knead by adding in a little bit more water.

• Using a straw, make a hole in the top for where you want to hang your salt dough ornament.

• Bake for 1-2 hours. If your ornaments are still doughy, put back in for another hour. (It will depend on your thickness how long you need to bake for. The thinner ornaments will take less time but thicker may take more).

• If you encounter too much puffing, roll out thinner ornaments and this will help reduce the puffing. If the ornament is still a bit doughy, bake for longer or let sit out a few days to harden before decorating.  The thickness of the dough will determine how long you have to bake them for. You can also raise the temperature up to 325 degrees Fahrenheit but do this gradually as they may start to puff up. We prefer to bake them at 250 degrees Fahreneheit for longer and let them air dry for a few days.

• Once cool, you can decorate by painting with acrylic or kids paint.

• To make the hand glittery, fill the handprint with glue then sprinkle glitter on top of the glue, shake off the excess and let it dry.

• Spray with a clear glaze finish or finish with mod podge.

• Don't forget to add some ribbon to hang them on the tree!

Good luck and enjoy your ornaments and precious keepsakes!

xo

LDT