Whether you wish you decorate your own family tree with the kids or give these away as gifts, simple salt dough decorations are so easy and fun to make. Follow our guide and learn how to make salt dough, then use the steps below to decorate and hang your own beautiful Christmas decorations.
See our homemade Christmas decoration ideas, top Christmas crafts for kids and top DIY Christmas crafts for more festive crafting inspiration.
How to make salt dough decorations
Makes 10-12 decorations
You will need
1 quantity salt dough
plain flour, for dusting
rolling pin
biscuit cutters
piping nozzle (optional)
acrylic paints or felt-tip pens
thin ribbon
Method
1. Roll the salt dough out onto a lightly floured work surface to a thickness of about 5mm.
2. Use the biscuit cutters to cut shapes from the dough – we chose Christmas trees and snowflakes.
3. Press the tip of a piping nozzle into the top of each shape to make a neat hole. If you don’t have a piping nozzle, you can use a sharp pencil to poke a hole through the dough. Choose the position carefully – the hole needs to be near the top of the design, but not so close to the edge that it breaks.
4. Set your oven to its lowest heat. Put your shapes on a lined baking sheet and bake for 3 hrs, or until solid. Leave to cool completely.
5. Once cool, paint and decorate as you like. We found that acrylic paint works best, but you could also colour them with felt-tip pens, glitter or festive stickers. Leave to dry. To finish, loop the ribbon through the hole and tie at the top, ready to hang on the tree.
Ideas for festive salt dough decorations
– Expand this section to a top 10 list, using inspiration from crafts websites and Getty images. Include more pics to show ideas (don’t need to go into method too much, keep to length of existing entries)
1. Baby’s first Christmas
Make a new family keepsake by rolling out a circle of salt dough and helping a child gently push their hand into it to make an imprint. Decorate as you’d like, adding the year to the back of the decoration.
2. Tree shapes
Cut out a single large tree shape, bake for a little longer (4-6 hrs), leave to cool, then paint green. Younger children will now be able to help decorate with star stickers, pieces of tinsel or pom-poms.
3. Names on the tree
For a fun family activity, each of you can add your name onto a decoration using a glitter pen.
4. Sparkling snowflake
Use a cutter to cut out a snowflake shape, then bake until solid. Once cool, paint white, then let your little ones decorate with silver glitter pens.
5. Candy canes
These candy canes are simple but effective, using a biscuit cutter for ease. Get creative by using a variety of paints and glitter combinations.
6. Shining stars
Christmas trees aren’t compete without some star decorations. Feel free to mix and match with paint and glitter for a homemade touch.
7. Gingerbread man
A friendly-looking gingerbread person makes an adorable addition to any Christmas tree – just make sure to let little ones know this one isn’t edible!
8. Festive house
Let your children’s imaginations go wild when decorating these cute festive houses – no jewel or pom-pom is off limits!
9. Friendly snowman
This smiling snowman makes a charming tree decoration. Leave the dainty painting parts to older kids and adults.
10. Christmas mittens
How adorable are these festive mittens? You could even personalise each mitten by adding your name using a glitter pen.
Discover more Christmas kids’ activities
How to make a snow globe
How to make hot chocolate cones
How to make potato stamps
How to make a bath bomb
Indoor activities for kids
Top DIY Christmas crafts
Have you made any salt dough Christmas decorations this year? Leave a comment below…
