This is a fun festive craft to help you create ornaments for your own tree OR as special gifts for others. It uses everyday household items and is a great way to get in the festive spirit.

What you need…

• Measuring cup

• Kebab stick

• Ribbon or string, to hang your ornament

• Glitter glue and paint for decoration (optional)

• Polyurethane spray, for preservation (optional)

• 2 cups plain flour

• 1/2 cup table salt

• 3/4 cups warm water

• Rolling pin

• Cookie cutters

• Mixing bowl

REMEMBER: Always ask a caregiver before starting any crafts project.

What to do…

Make and Bake

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt and warm water.

2. Mix the ingredients together with your hands.

3. Once thoroughly mixed, knead the dough and work it into a ball

4. Roll the ball of dough flat with a rolling pin to approximately 2cm thick.
   The flatter you can make the top and bottom of your dough, the better!

5. Use your cookie cutters to cut festive shapes of dough.

6. Create a small neat hole in each shape with a kebab stick - this is where you will hang your ornament from, so make sure the hold isn’t too close to the shape’s edges.

7. Bake your shapes in the oven at 140C for about 60 minutes (or until hard) and leave out on a wire rack to cool.

Top Tips

• To reduce the chances of your dough puffing up (ours did a little bit) set your oven on a lower temperature and cook for longer. Every oven is different, so you may need to experiment.

• You can use straws, sticks and other items to add patterns to your ornaments before you bake them.

Decorate

This step is optional; you may like to leave your ornaments as they are.

NOTE: If you decorate your ornaments before they have dried properly, they may not last as long. If they are still a bit soft, leave them out to air dry for a day or two before decorating.

1. Paint your ornaments with an undercoat of white poster paint or acrylic paint first. This will help your patterns and designs stand out.

2. Once your undercoat is dry, add your Christmas colours and designs on top

3. You can add glitter glue using a small brush for a bit of sparkle!

4. To seal your creation, ask an adult to help you spray on some Polyurethane spray.

5. Let your decoration dry and then hang it up with Christmas ribbon or string

Try experimenting with this recipe yourself to create your own perfect salt dough recipe!

Did you give it a go?

Send us a photo of your completed Christmas Ornament and you might find your creation featured in a future issue of Upstart magazine OR on Upstart online… AND win a prize!