Throwback Thursday: DIY Ornaments

 For Christmas, I made my ornaments for both sets of Grandparents, our family and Uncle Jon.  I wanted to make an ornament that was special for Haidyn’s first Christmas and for Sassafras, at the same time I wanted it to be something simple for us to treasure for years to come.  Haidyn had fun create her ornaments right up until she realized that we weren’t eating the dough. Sassafras, on the other hand, hated the entire idea from the get go and squirmed more than Haidyn did. After my struggle of getting both of them on board, both girls didn’t disappoint me with the finished product. This would be a great keepsake for pets or kids!

   

Salt Dough Ingredients: 

• 1/2  cup of salt
• 1 cup of flour
• 1/2 cup of water *more if dough needs it

What You’ll Need for Ornament:

• 1  Acrylic paint for decorating (optional)
• 2  Sharpie for writing ( optional)
• 3 Ribbon for hanging * I used 2 different colors of twine.

DIRECTIONS

1.   Mix together all ingredients.
2.   Knead dough for 7-10 minutes or until smooth. Dough should be similar to cookie dough
3.   Flour your surface and roll out your dough to your desired thickness- mine was an about ¼ in to ½ in thick.
4.  Cut out the shapes of your ornaments. I took a large glass and cut my in circles.
5.   Press in your child/animal hand/paw print onto the dough and continue for all of the ornaments you have to create.  ** I had to snatch mine away from Haidyn because she thought she was going to eat a cookie.
6. Poke holes with a straw at the top of each ornament. 
7.  Bake ornaments at 200 degrees for 2-3 hours or air dry for a 1-2 days until dry.
8. Once ornaments are dry you can decorate them as you please. * I didn’t decorate mine because I loved how simple they look.                       
   

   

   TBT from 3 years ago from Haidyn's 1st Christmas!

Salt Dough Halloween Crafts

Haidyn loves the fact that she can help with crafts now. She loves it even more if she’s getting her hands down and dirty in the crafts. We created ornaments like these for Christmas last year for her first Christmas, but I think this is a great way to get creative during the holiday season. I smell a new tradition in our family coming on!  

MATERIALS

• 1 cup salt
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup water
• acrylic paints/tempera paint (you’ll just have to do more coats)
• paintbrush(es)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 250 F.
2. Mix together, salt, flour, and water until dough is formed. 
   
   
   
    
   
   
   
3. Knead the dough on a floured surface until the mixture is well combined. If dough is too sticky, sprinkle with flour, continue to do so until “stickiness” is gone (Do not add too much flour, this will dry out the dough before you get a chance to bake it.) 
   
4. Roll dough flat with a rolling pin, about 1/4″ – 1/2″ thick.
   
5. Create your “creatures” by letting your little one press their hands/feet into the dough or just create your own ! I created my own “candy corn” .  For any details you want to add create them with a toothpick before baking i.e pumpkin details, a hole for Halloween ornaments and etc. 
   
   
   
   
6. Bake ornaments for 2.5-3 hours on a baking sheet.
7. Once done allow to cool for several hours or overnight before painting.
   
8. After cooling you can paint your creation as you please!