Christmas Tree Salt Dough Keepsake Ornaments

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These simple salt dough ornaments are a fantastic craft project for kids! They are great for holiday decorations and make unique, keepsake gifts. And they are extra adorable because they look like decorated sugar cookies!

The possibilities are endless with what you can create with this salt dough recipe and kids will love personalizing them. This year, we made Christmas Trees (plus a couple of handprints and our dogs paw print too). My favorite thing about these trees are the lights because they are my daughter’s fingerprints. I know when she is grown, I will reminisce (and cry) over how little her hands were, but I will also remember the fun we had making the ornaments together!

You likely already have all the ingredients on hand, so let’s get started with how to make your own Christmas Tree Salt Dough ornaments. If you’d rather watch our tutorial on Instagram, you can check it out here: Emily’s Christmas Tree Salt Dough Ornaments.

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What You’ll Need:

Ingredients

• 4 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 cup of salt
• 2 cups of water (you might need a little more or less)

This recipe makes a batch of dough for making roughly 10-12 large ornaments. For a smaller batch just half the recipe.

Materials

• Mixing bowl
• Rolling pin
• Extra Flour for the rolling pin and surface you will roll out the dough on
• Christmas Tree Cookie cutter (or other cookie cutter shapes) – I used this large Christmas tree cookie cutter from Amazon
• Baking sheet
• Parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat
• Straw (for making holes)
• Ink Pads (we used a brand exactly like this fingerprint ink pad set from Amazon) or acrylic paints or food coloring
• Paintbrushes (optional)
• Ribbon or string (for hanging)
• Clear varnish or sealant like Modge Podge- I used the spray Modge Podge

Steps to Create Your Salt Dough Ornaments:

Preheat your oven to 250°F (120°C).

Step 1: Make the Dough

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt and stir them together.
2. Slowly add the water and start mixing! It’s easier (and more fun) to mix the dough with your hands, but you can use a wooden spoon too if you want to keep things clean. Mix until a smooth dough forms. If it feels dry, add a bit more water; if it feels too sticky, sprinkle in a little more flour

Step 2: Roll Out the Dough

1. Lightly flour a clean surface (and your rolling pin) to keep the dough from sticking.
2. Roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick. Try to keep it even*.
   1. *This is important otherwise it will take FOREVER (like literal days) for your ornaments to harden/dry completely if the dough is too thick

Step 3: Cut Out Tree Shapes

1. Use your Christmas tree cookie cutter to cut out shapes from the rolled dough.
2. Place the trees onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat.

Step 4: Make The Fingerprint Lights

1. Have your child gently press their fingertip into the dough of each tree to make rows.  Make sure not to push all the way through the dough (but if it happens, it’s OK)

Step 5: Make Holes for Hanging

1. Use the end of a straw to poke a hole near the top of each tree. This is where you’ll thread the ribbon or string.
2. As an added touch, you can make a small star, using scraps of dough, to put at the top of your Christmas Tree. Then poke the hole through the star and tree.

Step 6: Bake the Ornaments

1. Put the baking sheet in the preheated oven.
2. Bake for about 2 – 3 hours, or until the ornaments are hard and dry. Check them now and then to make sure they don’t brown.

Step 7: Cool and Decorate

1. Take the ornaments out of the oven and let them cool completely.
2. Once they’re cool, have your child use the ink pads to go over the rows of fingerprint lights. Or use paint and a paintbrush to paint the lights.
3. Use gold or yellow acrylic paint to color the star.
4. Using a fine tip Permanent Marker, draw lines above the fingerprints to make them look like strings of lights.
5. Let the ink and marker dry for an hour. Then apply Modge Podge to each ornament to make them shiny and protect them. I used the spray sealant, but painting on the liquid sealant works fine too.

Step 8: Add A Ribbon and Finish Up

1. Once the sealant has dried, thread a ribbon or string through the hole in each ornament and tie a knot to keep it secure.
2. Your keepsake Christmas tree salt dough ornaments are now ready to hang on your tree, or give to friends and family!

Storage: Keep your finished ornaments in a cool, dry, place to keep them nice and avoid them getting soft.

Tips For Making Your Ornaments Extra Fun!

• Colorful Dough: If you want your dough to be colorful, add food coloring to the water before mixing it with the flour and salt. You can make multiple colors this way too by separating out the ingredients into smaller batches.
• Make Pet Paw Prints: Roll out dough in a large enough shape for your pet’s paw, then gently press their paw into the dough. Cat paw prints make adorable garlands!
• Get Fancy: Use textured items to create fun patterns on your dough before baking.
• Add Glitter or Sprinkles: To make these really look like sugar cookies, add real sugar sprinkles or make some out of PlayDoh
• Make Picture Frame Ornaments: Roll out and cut a desired shape, then cut out space from the middle of the shape, large enough for your selected photo. Once the ornament is cooled, decorated, and sealed, hot glue the edges of the photo and attach to the back of the frame.
• School or Party Favor / Activity: Provide a pre-made batch of ornaments for kids (or adults) to decorate at your holiday party or in your homeschool meetup or classroom! They make great favors that kids can decorate at home too.

The smile on my daughter’s face when she hangs one of her homemade ornaments on our tree each year, is priceless. And when she sees her handmade gift hanging on someone else’s tree, it’s all the more special!

We hope you enjoy making these salt dough ornaments to brighten up your holiday at home!