Happy Mother’s Day from The Parenting Patch! Did you get your mother an awesome present to thank her for being your mother? For our first Mother’s Day together, Poppy and I made salt dough handprint ornaments. We made an ornament with my handprint and her handprint for my mom’s Mother’s Day gift. We also made ornaments with just Poppy’s handprints and just Poppy’s footprints for me. I even had enough salt dough leftover to make an ornament with my dog’s paw print and my cat’s paw print. Making salt dough ornaments is so fun and easy, and the best part is that salt dough is safer for children (and pets) because the dough is edible. Although I do not recommend eating the dough: Too salty!
To make your own salt dough ornaments, begin by gathering the ingredients. You will need all-purpose flour, table salt, and warm water. If you want to dye your dough a different color, you will also need liquid food coloring.
- 1 cup of salt
- 2 cups of all-purpose flour plus extra
- 1 cup of warm water
- food coloring
If you are dying your salt dough a different color, start by adding the food coloring to the warm water until you achieve the desired color. You can add more food coloring to the dough later, but coloring the water at the beginning is much easier.
Next measure one cup of salt into a large mixing bowl.
Add the warm water to the salt and stir until the salt begins to dissolve.
Slowly mix the flour into the salt water mixture.
Continue stirring in the flour until the dough forms a ball.
The salt dough will be rather sticky. Kneed the dough with your hands, adding extra flour until the dough becomes firm but neither crumbly nor sticky. If you plan to continue your project later, place the dough in an airtight container for up to a few days.
Sprinkle a small amount of flour onto a piece of waxed paper.
Place the dough on the floured wax paper. Sprinkle more flour on top of the dough ball. Do not over-flour!
Use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough ball flat.
Transfer the flattened dough to a non-stick or greased baking sheet. Press your handprint into the flattened salt dough. To prevent air pockets from forming as the dough cooks, also use a thin, sharp object to prick the surface of the dough.
Preheat the oven to 300º. If you have a convection oven, use the convection setting. Bake your salt dough ornament until the surface of the dough begins to brown.
Remove the baked salt dough ornaments from the oven. The dough will continue to harden during cooling. Allow the ornaments to cool completely.
You can decorate your salt dough ornaments using non-toxic paint. To make the salt dough last longer, seal with a clear protective enamel spray. Enjoy!
References
Handmade Christmas: Homemade Ornaments: http://homemadegrits.blogspot.com/2009/12/handmade-christmas-homemade-ornaments.html?m=1
Salt Dough Recipe: http://www.busybeekidscrafts.com/Salt-Dough-Recipe.html
Image Credits
Ingredients for Salt Dough © 2012 Heather Johnson
Mixing Food Coloring and Water © 2012 Heather Johnson
Pouring the Salt © 2012 Heather Johnson
Mixing the Salt and Water © 2012 Heather Johnson
Adding the Flour © 2012 Heather Johnson
Stirring the Salt Dough © 2012 Heather Johnson
Adding More Flour © 2012 Heather Johnson
Salt Dough Ball © 2012 Heather Johnson
Kneeded Salt Dough Ball © 2012 Heather Johnson
Flouring the Wax Paper © 2012 Heather Johnson
Flouring the Salt Dough Ball © 2012 Heather Johnson
Rolling the Salt Dough Ball © 2012 Heather Johnson
Salt Dough Handprint Ornaments © 2012 Heather Johnson
Baking the Salt Dough Ornaments © 2012 Heather Johnson
Baked Salt Dough Ornaments © 2012 Heather Johnson
