Salt dough, or dough art as we refer to it in our family, is a simple, yet beautiful way to adorn spaces around the holidays. Making salt dough ornaments is a holiday tradition that we have been doing since I was a kid in the ‘80s, but the process has been around even longer than that.
The use of salt dough is as old as dirt, or I guess I should say as old as clay. Even so, salt dough has made a comeback in recent years, and for good reason—it only requires three ingredients, and the festive end product will last for years to come. We still pull out the salt dough ornaments I made as a kid and place them on our tree each year. I love that old traditions can live throughout the decades as we find ways to reinvent them with modern-day trends.
That is exactly what I did here with these lovely snowflake salt dough ornaments. I hope you follow along to make some yourself this holiday season.
Salt Dough Recipe
*Makes about 12 ornaments
Supplies Needed
Rolling pin
Cookie cutters (optional)
Plastic or metal straw
Cookie sheet
Parchment paper
Lettered stamps
Acrylic sealer
Bakers twine
Ingredients
1 cup All Purpose white flour
½ cup table salt
½ cup water (give or take)
4oz white acrylic paint
Step-By-Step
1. Mix together flour and salt. Add ¼ cup water and paint (if you want a white dough, otherwise you may leave it out). Stir to mix. If needed, slowly add more water until you reach a pizza dough consistency. Finally, remove dough from the bowl and knead on a floured surface until all ingredients are fully incorporated. Add more flour if too sticky, add more water if too dry.
2. To make ornaments, use a rolling pin to roll dough to ½ to ¼ inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to create snowflake shapes. Use a straw to poke a hole at the top of each snowflake to allow a space to thread your twine after baking.
3. Place ornaments on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 hours until dry. Flip ornaments every 30 minutes for a faster bake.
4. Once cooled, add decorative touches with lettered stamps, acrylic paint or Sharpie markers. Finally, spray one side of the ornament with an acrylic seal. Let dry, flip and spray the other side.
5. Once dried completely, thread twine through the hole created before baking. Hang from your tree or add to your gift boxes as gift tags.
For more DIY’s and seasonal styling ideas, visit LeAnn Parker at silvertoothhome.com.
