How to Make Salt Dough Ornaments - 3-Ingredient Christmas Craft

Scoop two cups of all-purpose flour into a mixing bowl. That's the base of the dough and the cheapest ingredient by a mile, so don't worry about precision - a quarter cup over or under won't break anything.

This single batch makes plenty for a family of four to decorate a tree. If you're hosting a craft party or want extra ornaments to give as gifts, double everything.

Pour in half a cup of regular table salt. Iodized Morton salt or the cheap store brand both work - whatever's in your pantry. Stir it through the flour with a spoon or your hand until you can't see streaks of pure white anymore.

Skip kosher salt and sea salt if you can. The larger crystals don't dissolve evenly during baking and you'll end up with a rougher surface for painting.

Add three-quarters of a cup of warm water and mix everything with your hands. Warm water helps the salt and flour bind faster than cold. Squish, fold, and knead until the dough holds together in one ball without crumbling.

If it feels too dry, splash in a tablespoon more water. Too sticky, sprinkle in a little extra flour. The texture you want is similar to playdough - smooth, pliable, and not stuck all over your fingers. Take any rings off first.

Move the dough to a clean cutting board and roll it flat with a rolling pin. Aim for about a quarter-inch thick. Thicker ornaments take longer to bake and can crack. Thinner ones get too fragile to hang.

Salt dough doesn't usually stick to a cutting board the way cookie dough does, so you can skip the parchment paper. If it does start to grab, dust the pin and the surface with a small handful of flour.

Press cookie cutters into the rolled-out dough and lift the shapes free. Crissy uses a six-pack of Christmas shapes from the Dollar Tree - gingerbread men, candy canes, stars, stockings, bells. Any cookie cutter you have works, holiday or not.

Fit as many shapes as you can into each rolling. Once you've cut everything that fits, pull the scraps together into a new ball, re-roll, and start again. Repeat until the dough is gone.

Use a drinking straw, a wooden skewer, or the end of a paintbrush to poke a small hole near the top of every ornament. That's how the ribbon will go through later. Stay about a quarter-inch from the edge so the loop doesn't break off.

This is also the moment to add character with letter stamps - press in names, initials, or short words like LOVE, JOY, HOPE, BELIEVE. Toothpicks work for drawing patterns, snowflake lines, or buttons on a snowman.

Lay the ornaments flat on a baking sheet with a little space between each one. Slide the tray into a 250-degree-Fahrenheit oven and bake for about two hours. Low and slow is the goal - the ornaments are drying out, not browning.

If yours start to puff up like a biscuit, the oven is running hot or you're at high altitude. Drop the temperature by 25 degrees and bake an extra half-hour to compensate. For a no-bake option, air dry them on a rack for four to seven days.

Once the ornaments are cool, paint them with acrylic or chalk paint. A small variety pack from Michaels, Hobby Lobby, or Amazon costs a few dollars and lasts through dozens of ornaments. Both paints go on smoothly with a regular craft brush.

Wait ten to fifteen minutes between coats so colors stay crisp - rushing causes red and white stripes to bleed into pink. For a striking metallic look, brush on a gold-tone acrylic like Testor's Precious Metals on stars or stamped pieces. Skip the metallic paints around small kids; the fumes are strong.

While the paint is still wet, sprinkle on glitter for instant sparkle. Or wait until the paint dries, brush on a thin coat of Mod Podge, and dust the glitter into the wet glue. Mod Podge gives you more control over where the glitter lands and seals it so it doesn't shed everywhere.

This is also the embellishment moment. Glue felt scraps onto a gingerbread man for a sweater. Stick googly eyes on a snowman. Glue tiny twigs from the backyard on for snowman arms. Whatever's around the house is fair game - buttons, sequins, ribbon scraps, rickrack trim.

Thread a piece of ribbon or baker's twine through the hole at the top of each ornament. About six inches works for tree-hanging. Tie a small knot to form a loop and trim the frayed ends.

Lay out the whole finished collection and admire it. Hang them on the tree, tie them to wrapped gifts in place of a bow, or string them along garland on the mantel. Salt dough ornaments last for years if you store them somewhere dry - moisture is the only thing that breaks them down.