Personalize your Christmas tree by adding some of your kids salt dough handprinted ornaments to it!
My kids make these yearly handprinted ornaments that are so special to add to the tree. It’s so fun for them to see how their hands have grown from year to year.
Making Salt Dough Ornaments
We’ve made these handprints using two different styles. You can make these by following the few simple steps below.
Handprints with Round Edges
After you’ve rolled out the dough and made the prints, you can shape up around them with a scissors and leave with the round edges.
Handprints without Round Edges
Or you can cut out the prints from the dough and so they look like hands only without the round edges.
Salt Dough Handprint Ornaments Recipe
Note: This recipe makes about 3-4 hand prints (ages 1-10). If you need more, make a double batch by doubling the ingredients.
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup Flour
- 1 Cup Salt
- 1/2 Cup Water
- 1 TBSP Cream of Tartar (optional)
- Food coloring (optional)
- Paint, glitter, sequins
Other Needs
- A drinking straw
- Food scissors or other measure of cutting food
- Paint, glitter
- Ribbon or Holiday Jute string
Method:
Heat the oven to 200 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper then set the pan aside.
- Mix flour, salt & cream of tartar together.
- Pour in water (add food coloring to the water first if you want colored dough).
- If the dough looks soggy, add a little more flour until it’s stiff enough to knead. Add a tad more water if it’s too stiff.
- Separate dough into the size of 2 baseballs combined.
- Roll out each ball into a circle unto a floured surface.
- Let the kids press one hand into the dough.
- Use a scissors to shape up the dough. Note: You can cut out just the handprint (see photo above or photos below) or shape around the circle and leave as is (see the photo above or the ornament on the first Christmas tree above for example).
- Using a straw, punch a hole where you’d like to tie a string to hang the ornament.
- Place prints on the baking pan and bake about 2 hrs. The playdough should be very hard.
- Let it cool.
- Have the kids paint and decorate the prints (if you didn’t already use food coloring).
- Let the ornaments dry, then attach the string or ribbon for hanging.
Each year, we pull out our handprints for the kids to put them on the tree. That’s always fun for them to see how much their hands have gotten bigger from the previous year, and years past.
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“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6