Make a salt dough ornament recipe and decorate to your heart’s desire for a fun activity to do with children during the holiday season.
Yield: Approximately 2 dozen ornaments.
Tools and Materials
- Cookie cutters or butter knife
- Skewer (optional)
- Preheat oven to 250 F.
- Mix the flour, salt, and 1-1/2 cups water together in a large bowl. When it becomes too stiff to stir, use clean hands to bring the dough together. This will take about 5 minutes.
- If it’s too wet or sticky, add a bit more flour, a little at a time. If too stiff, add a little bit of water. The dough should be soft and pliable.
- Turn the dough out onto parchment paper and divide it as preferred (I go by however many kids are making ornaments). Roll your portions out to about a 1/4-to-1/2-inch thickness.
- Cut out designs with cookie cutters or a butter knife. If needed, dust cookie cutters with flour or cornstarch, or apply cooking oil to them to keep them from sticking.
- Place ornaments on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. If you’ll be using them as hanging ornaments, use a skewer to poke holes where you’d like the strings to go. Bake for 90 minutes to 2 hours, checking every 10 minutes after the first 90 minutes.
- Allow ornaments to fully cool, then paint as desired (I’ve found that acrylic paints work best, and glitter sticks to them well). Once paint is dry, seal if desired.
- After they’re fully dried, string and hang your one-of-a-kind ornaments!
If you didn’t use all of your dough today, that’s okay! It’ll keep in a sealed container in the fridge for a few days. Just check it for any drying, and add a little water if needed.
Find more holiday crafting ideas in Holiday Crafts for Frugal Folks.
Originally published in the November/December 2025 issue of Grit magazine and regularly vetted for accuracy.
