Salt Dough Handprint Christmas Ornament Tutorial

Sophie has done her first craft (well kind of… she slept through it). We made salt dough handprint Christmas tree ornaments for her Grandparents. They were really cheap and fairly easy. I am also going to make some with her footprint. 

What you need:

·         2 cups of plain flour

·         2 cups of Salt

·         1 cup water

·         Bowl

·         Rolling pin

·         Cookie cutter

·         Greaseproof paper

·         Baking tray

·         Straw

·         Acrylic paint

·         Ribbon

·         Scissors

What to do:

1.    Mix the flour, salt and water in a bowl. If it is dry add a little more water. 

2.    Knead the mixture and form a ball.

3.    Roll the salt dough out so that it is about 1cm thick.

4.    Cut a circle of salt dough using a cookie cutter or cup. 

5. Place the salt dough circle on a baking tray. (I recommend placing them on greaseproof paper as mine were nearly impossible to get off the tray!)

6.   Help your child to press their hand into the salt dough. (I waited until Sophie was asleep as she grabbed the dough when she was awake! Make sure to wash your child’s hands afterwards because the salt can make their hands quite dry. If you have trouble getting the handprint in the middle do this before Step 2).   

7.    Use the straw to make two holes so that the decoration can be hung up.  

8.    Cook them on a low heat until they have dried (mine took 3 hours).

9.    Paint the decorations using acrylic paint. After you could paint them with PVA glue or a gloss spray to seal them. (If the edges are rough you can sand them gently using a fine sandpaper).

10.     Attach a ribbon so that they can be hung on the Christmas tree.