Learn how to make classic salt dough with the kids, with baking, painting, and storage info. This method is straight forward, easy, and thorough—and they a perfect kids holiday gift for grandparents, teachers, and loved ones!
Salt Dough
This salt dough is a staple of childhood and I love doing this Christmas activity with my kids each year—and throughout the rest of the year too! We love to make salt dough handprints, ornaments, and sometimes, just any old shape they want to. It’s an easy project that we can do together—and then share as kid-made holiday gifts, keepsakes, or house decorations.
Salt Dough Recipe
Making salt dough at home is as easy as combining three pantry staples together into a dough. It’s fairly fool proof (as long as you follow the measurements!) and is a recipe that even little kids can help make.
Ingredients in Salt Dough
To make this recipe, you’ll need:
- table salt
- all-purpose flour
- water
TIP: That’s it! (I buy store brand, cheap flour for this since project to keep it very budget-friendly.)
How to Make Salt Dough Ornaments Step-by-Step
Here’s a look at how to make the dough for this salt dough. Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full information.
- Measure out the flour and water. (photo 1)
- Add the water. (photo 2)
- Stir with a wooden spoon. (photo 3)
- Keep stirring until the dough is mostly together and is hard to stir any longer. (photo 4)
- Knead a few times with hands to bring the dough together. (photo 5)
- Place dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll out. (photo 6)
TIP: You can divide the dough in sections so multiple kids can have their own dough to work with.
How to Cut Out, Bake and Decorate Salt Dough Ornaments
Once you start rolling, here’s a look at what will follow if you want to make these into ornaments. (Skip the hole poking if you want to just make these as shapes for the kids to paint.)
- Roll out, changing directions occasionally, until about 1/4-inch thick. (This may not get precise if you’re working with kids and that’s okay!) (photo 1)
- Stamp cookie cutters. (photo 2)
- Remove the dough around the shapes, then either transfer the whole piece of parchment paper to a cookie sheet OR transfer just the shapes to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. (photo 3)
- Poke holes so you have a place for a string to hang as ornaments. (photo 4)
- Press in a hand to make a handprint, if desired. (photo 5)
- Bake, let cool and decorate! (photo 6)
TIP: Re-roll any remaining dough after Step 3 here to make additional ornaments.
Salt Dough Handprint Ornament
Capturing a handprint in salt dough is a perfect grandparent gift, or a keepsake ornament to make for your own tree. I love pulling out our little collection year after year. Know that getting a good print may take a few tries if doing a baby’s hand!
TIP: Check the size of your round cookie cutter against your child’s hand to make sure that it’s big enough. You may need one that’s 4-5 inches in diameter.
Best Paint for Salt Dough Ornaments
If the kids are wearing smocks, the table is protected, and you are reasonably sure they won’t paint all over their hands and faces, I like using regular acrylic craft paint since it holds up best on crafts. With younger kids who may wind up wearing more of the paint, I’d recommend tempura washable paints.
TIP: We put our paint into the base of old egg cartons since we always have those on hand. You can also use paper plates.
How to Preserve Salt Dough Ornaments
To help preserve your finished dried ornaments, you can coat with a layer or two of Mod Podge or spray with a sealer. Either work well. I’d recommend coating or sealing both sides, so do one side and let it dry, and then do the second side. If using the sealer, do it in a well ventilated area without the kids too close by.
TIP: To store these ornaments from year to year, you’ll want to wrap in bubble wrap. Store in a container that won’t be banged around, dropped or exposed to excess moisture.
Why is my salt dough puffing up?
If you mistakenly use self-rising flour, they may puff. And sometimes it happens randomly. Keep the oven temperature low and if it happens consistently, you can try baking at an even lower temperature for a slightly longer amount of time.
Tips for Making the Best Salt Dough Ornaments
- If the dough is too wet and sticky, knead in a little more flour. If it’s too stiff, add a little more water. There is a big range in the way different flours absorb liquid, so there is a normal range of variation in liquid needs. It should be easy to work with—soft and not too stiff and not excessively sticky.
- Use paper lollipop sticks or a skewer to make your holes.
- Use a 4-5 inch round cookie cutter to make handprint ornaments.
- Tie on baker’s twine or thin ribbon to hang as ornaments.
- Try to get the dough to an even thickness before baking so the ornaments bake evenly.
- Bake for the time indicated and then longer if your ornaments still feel soft. They should be firm to the touch without much give.
- Let cool fully before painting.
- If you want to paint the background of a handprint ornament, do that before you paint the inside of the hand. Let dry before adding a second color. Some people like to paint the whole thing white or cream to give it a more finished look.
- Use acrylic craft paint for older kids who can be trusted with paint and tempura washable paints with younger toddlers.since it holds up best on crafts. With younger kids who may wind up wearing more of the paint, I’d recommend.
- To help preserve your finished dried ornaments, you can coat with a layer or two of Mod Podge or spray with a sealer.
I’d love to hear your feedback on this project and what your kids thought of it, so please comment below to share!
The Best Easy Salt Dough
Ingredients
- 4 cups flour
- 1 cup table salt
- 1.5 cups water
Instructions
- Mix the ingredients together in a large bowl using a wooden spoon. When it becomes too stiff to stir, use clean hands to bring the dough together.
- NOTE: If the dough is too wet and sticky, knead in a little more flour, about 1 tablespoon at a time. If it's too stiff, add a little more water, about 1 tablespoon at a time. There is a big range in the way different flours absorb liquid, so there is a normal range of variation here. It should be easy to work with—soft and not too stiff and not excessively sticky.
- Knead a few times until the dough is uniform and soft, about 3-5 minutes.
- Divide dough into 2 or 4 sections and roll out to about 1/4-½ inch thick between two sheets of parchment paper. This will help prevent sticking.
- Cut out with cookie cutters. Transfer shapes to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Repeat rolling and cutting out shapes to use up the dough.
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
- Do a 4-5-inch circle and press in a child's handprint if desired.
- Use a paper lollipop stick or a skewer to make a hole to hang as an ornament.
- If making ornaments, bake for 90 minutes to 2 hours; if baking handprints, bake for 2-3 hours. Continue baking both ornaments and handprints as needed until they are until just firm to the touch, checking every 20 minutes. (It's not a problem if yours take longer than the initial baking time—it varies based on thickness and size...which will likely vary if you are baking these with kids!) They do not need to be rock hard, but should not feel squishy. Handprints will likely take longer than smaller ornaments and may take closer to 4 hours.
- Remove from oven, let cool, and paint if desired with acrylic or washable tempera paint.
- Once paint is completely dry, seal with Mod Podge if desired.
Notes
- Divide the recipe in half to make a smaller portion of dough if desired.
- Use paper lollipop sticks or a skewer to make your holes.
- Use a 4-5 inch round cookie cutter to make handprint ornaments.
- Tie on baker's twine or thin ribbon to hang as ornaments.
- Try to get the dough to an even thickness before baking so the ornaments bake evenly.
- Bake for the time indicated and then longer if your ornaments still feel soft. They should be firm to the touch without much give but do not need to be rock hard. It is not a sign of a problem if yours take longer than mine did to bake—flours and ovens vary!
- Let cool fully before painting.
- If you want to paint the background of a handprint ornament, do that before you paint the inside of the hand. Let dry before adding a second color.
- Use regular acrylic paint for older kids who can be trusted with paint and washable tempera paint with younger toddlers.
- To help preserve your finished dried ornaments, you can coat with a layer or two of Mod Podge or spray with a sealer.
Can you use other flours such as wheat flour in stead of white flour
I haven’t tried that but I think it would work if you used a bit more water since it will absorb the liquid more readily.
I halved the recipe exactly and found the dough easy to work with but they are taking forever to dry and I’m very discouraged. I put them on parchment on a cookie sheet in the oven for 2.5+ hours, found them dry on one side but they looked glossy and darker on the parchment side, as if the dough is still wet. So I flipped them, let them air dry overnight, and baked them another 2.5+ hours. Still not dry. I’ve now got them in the oven on convection at 200 degrees.
Have I ruined them? Can I just bake them longer? Will they air dry the rest of the way if I hang them on our tree in our home for the next 3 weeks until Christmas? I have not sealed them yet. I made a hand print of our son and paw print of our dog, who is not doing well health wise, along with holiday cookie cutter shapes. I don’t really care if the cookie cutters don’t work out, I can just make new ones, but I will be crushed if this is the last holiday we have with our dog and his paw print gets moldy and needs to be thrown out. I also understand the two prints might take longer to dry because they are thicker but they’ve been in the oven for 7+ hours at this point and don’t look even close to being dried out, nor do the Christmas cookie shapes, which are about 1/4 inch thick. Is there any way to salvage the ornaments I have or should I start over?
It should be fine to bake them longer. If they were thicker, that could explain it.
Several years ago, I made “chocolate covered ice cream” on craft sticks one Christmas for the ladies in a group I was in as a little “stocking stuffer” gift… they were about 2″ wide x 4″ tall by about 1/2″ to 1″ wide… I looked around to see if I could find a soda bottle cap but none anywhere, so I bit a small piece from the corner on all of them to give a more realistic look to them… then I baked them in the oven on about 300* F until they were dry… after they were cool I painted them with brown acrylic paint… the ladies loved them… I need to share your recipe to my niece so she can make some Christmas ornaments with her children… I hope you enjoyed my nostalgic memory… Sorry if it was too long…
Thanks for sharing!
Love your comment.
The amount of ingredients is all the way at the bottom of the page and was very hard to find.
Do these need to be baked immediately after cutting out and doing handprints?
They’re okay to sit for a while if needed. You can leave them at room temp.
you do not necessarily need to bake them, you can also air dry them… baking just speeds up the process for a quicker result…
They really do not dry out completely without baking them. Maybe another recipe would but I have left these for days and they are still wet on the bottom so they should be baked. Thanks for commenting!
If I have my preschoolers cut them out and do handprints at school, can I bake them later at home? Or do they need to be baked immediately?
That should be fine!
I’m not seeing how much water to use.. Any tips?
It’s in the recipe at the bottom!
Can I insert a mental paper clip into the dough at the top before baking; instead of making holes for the ribbon?
I haven’t tried that but it might work!
I made these today and they came out perfectly. I rolled them to about 5mm thick, and had no puffing or cracking. I didn’t air dry them first either.
I doubled the recipe and baked them on a cooling rack at 95°C for about 2.5 hours or so. I turned them with 30 min to go which probably wasn’t necessary.
Can you use food coloring in the dough before making the ornament?
Sure!
I was wondering if I could line cookie sheet with foil instead of parchment paper?
That should work okay I think. You could spray very very lightly with nonstick spray to make sure they don’t stick.
Perfect recipe for salt dough
I made these this week and they turned out excellent. I used “iodized salt”. I halved the recipe and it still made plenty. A couple of mine did puff up. I think it was the ones i rolled out too thin. I let my daughter “help” paint on the white with washable paint and then filled in the handprints with acrylic paint. Some of the washable paint dried slightly crackled but the acrylic worked perfectly. I’ve made “better than salt dough” handprints in previous years that cracked. These did not crack. I’ll make them again next year!
I’m so glad to hear that and I appreciate the comment!
Is there any way you could send me the recipe that you have if different than the one listed above. These will be a gift for my mother.
Thank you so much!
Lacey
She mentioned that she used this recipe, she just cut the amounts in half. Enjoy it! (I took your email off for your privacy.)
Her is my question… can i make the dough and refrigerate for later, thanks !
Yes just put it into a storage bag, remove as much air as you can, and seal first.
If I want to make it the day before. Do I refrigerate it or just leave it out on the counter? Thanks!
If you put it into a storage bag, remove as much air as possible and seal it, you can do either room temp or the fridge.
Can we use Himalayan salt half with half table salt ? I ran out of table salt! Lol
If it’s coarse, it won’t blend in that well and you may be able to see the crystals. So that’s the one thing to consider. Otherwise you probably could
How long do you bake the salt dough ornaments for?
The recipe is always at the end of my posts.