Salt Dough Ornaments *Updated*

One of our advent activities was to make Christmas ornaments, but I didn't have a clue what to make them out of.  My friend, Amy, suggested salt dough ornaments- thank you for the idea, Amy!!  The kids had fun and we made a variety of gifts from this project.  Sorry I can't share pictures of the finished products as the ornaments are going to be given to people who sometimes read this blog. **Update** Now that Christmas is over, I've posted a photo of our finished ornament at the bottom of the screen, so scroll down to see it. :)  

On the first day, we made the dough and cut out our shapes.  The kids had a blast working with the dough and making a mess.  While they played, I cut out the real ornaments that we'd give as gifts.  I used cookie cutters to make the shapes.  Some of the cut out shapes I also stamped with a rubber stamp to give the dough an interesting pattern.  I baked our creations and let the kids play with the excess dough.

On the second day, we painted the baked ornaments.  The kids love to paint and did a great job.  (Although, Miss M decided to paint her tongue yellow while my back was turned!  Ugh!!  Well, now she knows that paint doesn't taste good.)  Once the paint dried, I added some embellishments to the ornaments.  I discovered that a coat of Mod Podge is a good way to give our little creations a top coat.  While the Mod Podge was still wet, I sprinkled clear glitter on some of the ornaments.  They turned out quite nice.  Once everything was dry, I added ribbon as a finishing touch.   (If you visit Pintrest, just type in a search for salt dough ornaments and you'll find a wonderful variety of ideas to get your creative juices flowing.)

Recipe for Salt Dough Ornaments

(Makes about 12 small handprint ornaments)
Ingredients:
4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 1/2 cups water
Note: Add more water if needed.

Directions:
Combine ingredients and knead dough for 15 to 20 minutes.

Bake at 300ºF about 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. 

You may have to bake considerably longer depending on how thick your items are. 

They may not feel hard right away but will harden as they cool.

(Ours never did harden even after baking for 40 minutes...guess I added too much water.)

Here's the finished product!  We made ornaments
for Grandpa, Grandma, & Aunt Katie.  I inked
the edges of the star with brown ink, adhered a photo
of the kiddos, and threaded a lovely ribbon through
the hole at the top to make it easy to hang on
the tree.