Making Your Holidays Bright with Salt Dough Ornaments

In an effort to ease your burdens this holiday season I have crafted a bit of a hodge podge of ideas for things you can affordably make, create, and give this holiday season and I will be releasing them over the coming days so, keep an eye out for those. Let’s start with Salt Dough Ornaments. Making ornaments for winter celebrations from salt dough is an ancient tradition, especially for Eastern European cultures, who made them into figures of good health, happiness, and good luck in an effort to welcome these things into their lives in the coming year. The custom was introduced to America in the 19th Century by German Immigrants, especially in Pennsylvania, and it endures today. Whether they are rustic or ornate, there is just something about these ornaments. Read on to learn how.

I have been wanting to make these for as long as I can remember. Being on a mission to “want to do” less and just go ahead and do more, I figured this was the year to do it. It was so easy…so enjoyable…and is a super affordable way to make magical holiday memories. They’re also super versatile. You can use them for gift tags, as basket filler, stocking stuffers, and they make great hostess gifts. The best part is it’s flour, water, and salt. The end. Well, kind of the end. They do take time…most of this is hands off time. They dry in a low temp oven and this can take several hours. It’s a great thing to do while you’re at home tackling other things or if you’re just looking for an excuse to stay home and be cozy.

First thing you want to do is gather implements for cutting the dough. You can use cookie cutters, cans, glasses, or tiny boxes. You could also use a sharp knife or a pizza cutter to do squares or diamonds. It is traditional to use cookie presses and molds and those are absolutely stunning.

You’ll also want to gather things to imprint the dough with. We used rubber stamps, artificial berries and greenery, wood accent pieces, an orange slice, dog paws, etc. Anything that has texture will make an impression. Some work better than others. If you don’t like one you’ve tried just roll or smooth the dough back out and try again. The dough is pretty forgiving.

You will also need a straw or skewer or anything you can use to make a hole in the dough for hanging.

We used 2 cups of flour, 1 1/2 cups of water, and 1/2 cup of salt. You can also add cinnamon for a darker, more gingerbread looking dough. I might try that in the future. Also, you can definitely double this if you want to make a bunch. We had enough to make a garland and some ornaments which was perfect.

Add flour to a large bowl. Dissolve the salt in the warm water as much as possible then add to flour. I stirred with a spoon at first and then switched to using my hands once it started to come together. If the dough is too dry or you have bits of flour that haven’t been incorporated add water 1 tsp. at a time until you get a smooth workable dough. Also, if it’s too wet you can add flour 1 tsp. at a time.

Kneed dough until smooth and roll out to around an 1/8″ thick. You can do this on your counter, between two pieces of parchment, or on a reusable baking mat. You can do them a bit thicker and I think the thicker ones really take the pattern of whatever you’re pressing into them better but, they will take longer to dry.

Cut the dough and decorate as you go. You really have to press the items into the dough but also with a light touch, which makes no sense but you’ll get it when you make them. Don’t forget to poke a hole in the top for hanging. I used skewers on smaller ones but some of them closed up during baking. So, if you go this route, just stretch the dough with the skewer to make it a bit bigger than the skewer and it should be fine.

Once your ornaments are all cut and decorated they will go on a parchment lined baking sheet in a 200 degree oven until they’re dry. We rotated the pan every hour and also shifted the position of the ornaments on the parchment once they were dry enough to be moved. The parchment holds on to moisture from the dough so shifting them gives them a nice dry spot to finish the process. It can take a couple of hours or many. This all depends on the thickness and size of the ornaments you made. Once dry, transfer them to a wire rack to cool. Once cool, decide what you will do with them from there. I used twine to make some ornaments for the tree and also did a garland with some mandarin orange slices that I had dried.

You can use anything you like to hang them so long as it fits through the hole. I used twine and gold wire but ribbon, raffia, paper twist, or macrame cord would be great options. If you have a needle big enough and small enough it can be helpful when stringing them.

Salt Dough Ornament and Dried Orange Garland

To make a garland you’ll need twine, ribbon, wire, or whatever you would like to string your ornaments on. You will need scissors or wire cutters to cut it to the desired length. Needle nose pliers are helpful if you plan on using any wire. Take a minute to think about how you want to arrange them.

To begin, I laid my twine out across my desk. I tied a double knot at the right end and strung the left end of the twine through the hole of my first ornament. I tied a double knot at the top, being careful to keep the leader string to the left while holding the ornament straight. This ensures that your ornaments face the front of the garland allowing the light to show through your design.

Continue adding ornaments, oranges, greenery, snowflakes, icicles, or whatever else you think might look nice to your twine or ribbon. I wished I would have added more oranges but hind sight will get you every time. I added some stars to the garland with wire they have a dangly, bounciness about them that I just love. If you prefer, you could also add hangers to your ornaments and then tie them to the garland twine like I did with the stars. The ornaments will move more so this is best left for ornaments that haven’t been pressed with a design.

I tied loops to the end of my twine and just hung them on the curtain rod hangers. I absolutely love it and we will have it and the memories of making them for years to come. I hope you enjoy making these and warm memories with your loved ones this holiday season.

Always,

Amy