How To Make Simple Nature Salt Dough Star Ornaments
Salt dough is the perfect material to create budget-friendly, homemade Christmas ornaments. Follow our super easy guide ot make these simple leaf impression star ornaments to help decorate your tree.
Our whole family loves creating at Christmas time! From cool Christmas tree doodles to easier cookie-cutter salt dough ornaments, there is never a dull moment around here. Making salt dough ornaments has become a tradition around here, and these stars are some of my favorites!
Why You Will Love This Project
Notes On Supplies You’ll Need
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You can get the full list of supplies in the printable how-to card at the end of the post.
How To Make Nature Salt Dough Star Ornaments
BEFORE YOU BEGIN – Preheat your oven to 250 degrees F.
Step 1: Make Salt Dough
Mix dry ingredients (4 cups flour and 1 cup salt) into a large bowl.
Carefully pour in 1 1/2 cups of warm water and knead together.
Step 2: Roll Out Dough To 1/4″ Thickness
You can work on a lightly floured surface, or sandwich your dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll it out with a rolling pin.
Step 3: Cut The Star
Use a star cookie cutter to gently press into the dough. Remove the excess around the cut-out shape.
Step 4: Add A Hole
Gently lay your leaves on the star and press. You may want to put an extra piece of parchment paper on top to not get extra indents.
Add a hole at the top of your star using a skewer or straw.
Step 5: Bake
Place your salt dough star on parchament paper before baking at 250 degrees F for 20 minutes. Flip the star and bake for another 10 minutes.
Step 6: Paint
For this nature star design, we simple used slightly watered down green watercolor paint. Let fully dry.
Step 7: Add Clear Coat and Ribbon
Once the watercolor paint is dry, carefully paint a clear coat or spray. We used this iridescent medium for a cool appearance.
Tips
- ADD EXTRA WATER SLOWLY – You need a soft dough to be able to get the textures. Add water slowly, but don’t make it too sticky. You may need extra water to achieve the right consistency to get the nature print to show.
- LOW AND SLOW – Sometimes our salt ornaments do better baking at 200 degrees F for about 25 minutes each side.
Other Salt Dough Ornament Ideas
- Create simple cutouts and paint designs or winter scenes.
- Use a handprint as a base for your image. Our favorite is a salt-dough snowman family ornament. A child’s fingerprint was used to identify this simple snowman.
- Use stamps to add dates, names, or an extra holiday message for cheer.
Follow us on Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook & Flipboard for more free art and craft ideas!
Salt Dough FAQs
You can use acrylic craft paint, washable tempera paint, or watercolor paint on salt dough. Ensure your ornament is completely dry or baked before painting, and do not allow children to add too much water when using paint.
Salt is an excellent preservative for ornaments. However, adding an extra clear coat, such as Mod Podge or a gloss medium, will help your project last for years to come.
Our Favorite
Related Christmas Projects
I love how simple these homemade salt dough star ornaments are to make! Customize the design for fun tree decorations or personalized Christmas name tags that everyone will love this holiday season.
Do you like this art project? Please give us 5 stars below 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 and have fun being creative with your family.
How To Make Salt Dough Star Ornament
Equipment
- Rolling Pin or Bottle
- Parchment Paper
- Bowl
- Spoon
- Star Cookie Cutter
- Leaf
- Stamps (optional)
Supplies
- 4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Cup Table Salt
- 1 1/2 Cup Warm Water
- Ribbon or Twine
- Paint
- Clear Coat of your choice
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 250 ℉.
- Mix dry ingredients (4 cups flour and 1 cup salt) into a large bowl.
- Carefully pour in 1 1/2 cups of warm water
- Mix and knead together.
- Sandwich your dough between two pieces of parchment paper, then roll out the salt dough with a rolling pin. Your dough should be about 1/4" thick.
- Use a star cookie cutter to gently press into the dough. Remove the excess around the cut-out shape.
- Carefully press leaves into the star shape and remove.
- Make a hole in the top of your ornament by using a straw or wooden skewer.
- Bake on parchment paper for 20 minutes, then flip stars and bake again for 10 minutes. You want all the moisture to be gone.
- Paint with your desired colors.
- Add a protective clear coat.
Notes
- Cut this salt dough recipe in half if only needed to make a few ornaments.
- Letter stamps can add another cool texture.