We tried the salt dough ornaments that everyone was talking about on Instagram but they didn’t turn out so great. They cracked pretty quickly and within a week one broke all the way in half, falling off the tree! I still loved the idea so I asked in my Instagram stories and multiple people told me to use the one that has cornstarch.
So I followed your advice and they turned out WAY better! The color is whiter, the dough is smoother, and the imprints came out much clearer. We made these fun homemade clay ornaments with Hilde’s prints. We even had some extra so when Elsie came over a couple days later we added some food coloring to the dough and brought our the cookie cutters. Also a video! We are trying to get more into video this year so I hope you like it!!
Homemade Clay Ornaments:
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What you Need:
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 cup baking soda
3/4 cup water
food coloring (for fun)
How To:
1. Stir water, baking soda, and cornstarch together in a pot over medium heat.
2. Keep stirring until the mixture thickens to look like mashed potatoes.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Move to bowl and cover (to prevent from drying) until dough cools.
5. Preheat oven to 175 degrees (Fahrenheit)
6. Kneed and roll out dough on corn starched surface.
7. Bake for 90-120 minutes.
Dangggg Beth, a video AND photos? Overachiever 😉 Just kidding of course!! This is such a fun project, and I’ll need to do this ASAP (before Aiden & Emma grow anymore!! AHH!)
Don’t worry, it won’t happen again 😉
This is so cute! We did ornaments one year that called for cinnamon and applesauce and it made the house smell SO wonderful. I can’t remember what they were called… I just remember those two ingredients.
Oh my goodness! That does sound like it would smell soooo good!
I want to make clay ornaments now, these are so cute. I love how each one is unique and different.
Thanks so much! Yes! They are so fun! A fun way to make memories and celebrate the Christmas season!!
How have these held up now that it’s been a few years?
Thanks Elizabeth! They were still good when I took them out last Christmas! I would probably cover them with modge podge or some kind of clear protective covering. I didn’t do that the first time but I did them with my spooky ghost ornaments (https://oakandoats.com/2021/10/spooky-handprint-clay-ghost-ornaments.html ) and I think that helps them last longer!
These are so beautiful!! What size width ribbon did you use In the photo with the creamy and light green velvet ribbons? Just gorgeous the combination!
Thanks so much Jennifer! They are Sugar Paper from Target the 5/8″ size. They typically come out with a couple colors every Christmas season and I always buy a couple spools! Here is a link but they are currently sold out (I bet they will restock soon!) https://bit.ly/3BNiRGB
I’m definitely making these with my daughter for her 1st Christmas! Thinking of giving them out as Christmas gifts 😁. I saw in a comment that you’d recommend sealing with mod podge? Do you have a recommendation on what kind? Clear, matte, white?
Hello Hailey! So fun!! I am going to make something again this year too now that I have three kiddos! I do! I would use a matte kind. I’m pretty sure that is the one I currently have and usually buy! If you have a hard time getting this method to work, I discovered this clay that also works really well! https://bit.ly/3tloVlW
hey there! me and my son made some of these today and i loved the recipe and the initial way they came out but they kind of curled up when i baked them 😭. was this because i rolled them too thin? i followed everything else so i wasn’t sure. just wanted to see if you had a suggestion. i’ll definitely try again! thank you 🥰
Hello! I am sorry they curled up! My guess is that they were too thin? But I am not sure as I haven’t run into that issue! You may need to just find a new recipe that works better for your oven/ climate? Haha! Just trying to brainstorm. I do also LOVE this clay for kids crafts, I used it for our ghost ornaments ( https://oakandoats.com/2021/10/spooky-handprint-clay-ghost-ornaments.html ). It may be a good fit for you: https://bit.ly/3j4c2e2 Let me know how it goes!!!
Another thought… You could let them airdry slowly. The oven mostly just speeds up the drying process.
I LOVE these and want to make them as gifts so badly! I tried today and they have a ton of cracks!! Any advice?
Hmmm!! I’m not sure since I didn’t have to trial and error that! But maybe you can try air drying them instead of the oven. It will be slower but maybe it is the faster dry that is cracking them? Another thought is that the dough may be too dry so it is cracking when you are working with it?
Would have been nice if you’d specified the oven temperature was Fahrenheit and not Celcius – I’ve completely ruined my batch 😭
Oh no Jess! 😭 Hopefully you will be able to make another batch! It honestly never occurred to me to note it as our ovens only do Fahrenheit! But I will keep it in mind for the future and update this post! Especially since it looks like this little blog of mine is reaching farther than I knew! Thanks for pointing this out to me so I can be clearer in the future! Merry Christmas!