DIY Christmas Ornaments
We've each acquired our own collection of ornaments over the years, but it wasn't quite enough to outfit our apartment-sized tree. Not wanting to spend too much money on decorative or themed ornaments until we get a bigger tree, I decided to put our DIY-ness to the test and create some originals.
I drew inspiration from a salt dough recipe I found on Pinterest and bought a few Christmas stamps from the dollar bins at Michael's. It was a fun Sunday craft for Thomas and I to do together - we're all about making memories.
{my favorite was the "partridge in a pear tree" stamp, but the text didn't stamp very well into the dough. The one that worked the best was probably the peppermint candy} |
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup table salt
1/2 cup warm water
I doubled the recipe and it made approximately 18 ornaments. Simply place all ingredients in a mixer and blend until smooth. Roll out to 1/8 inch thick before cutting into shapes. The dough will not rise - placing them in the oven dries it out - so use your best judgement on the thickness. You don't want it so thin that it breaks when dry, but if it's too thick it will take forever to dry.
{oh hey, mr. reed.} |
{without a proper biscuit cutter, we got creative and used a votive holder to cut perfect circles} |
Place on a cookie sheet and bake for four hours at 200 degrees. Even after the time was up, I let the ornaments sit on the counter for a few hours to ensure they were completely dry. See the rough edges of the ornaments? Easy fix. I used a nail file to smooth everything out and they turned out beautifully!
I used extra jute from our wedding to hang the ornaments for a shabby feel. If I could go back and do it again, I might add a little shimmer to the dough before drying. I tried to mimic the painted look of the original recipe {see above}, but the metallic silver and gold craft paint I used on the stamps did NOT turn out pretty.
You can also see another of my DIY ornaments in the photo on the right. Using another "Pinterest-spiration," I found clear plastic ornaments for $0.50 at Michael's and filled them with strips of paper cut from our wedding program {photographed above} and invitation. I cut the strips so that words from each could still be read, and curled the paper around a pencil to give it some volume. I then dropped the curled paper into the ornament and voilĂ !
On the topic of ornaments, I've been searching for the perfect "just married" or "our first Christmas" ornament for a few weeks now and have yet to find one I love. Any suggestions?
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