Gather your salt dough ingredients and supplies for decorating the ornaments.
Step 2: Make and roll out the salt dough
Microwave the water until warm (about 45 seconds). Then add the warm water, flour and salt to a mixing bowl. Mix the dough with a spoon until it becomes hard to stir.
Squeeze the dough with your hands and knead it on a flat surface until you have a nice, soft dough ball.If the dough is too sticky, add more flour 1 teaspoon at a time. If the dough is too dry, add more water 1 teaspoon at a time.
Sprinkle a bit of flour onto your counter or a cutting board. Add the dough ball on top of the flour and sprinkle a bit more flour on top.
Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to just under 1/4 inch thick (about 5 mm).
Step 3: Cut out and bake the ornaments
Press the cookie cutters into the dough.
Push the end of a drinking straw (or the flat end of a wooden skewer) into each shape to make a hole to hang the ornament.
Place the ornaments on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 225F for 4 - 6 hours or until dry and hard.Be sure to flip the salt dough ornaments half way through baking to ensure both sides are dry. Larger or thicker ornaments may take longer to dry.
Step 4: Paint and add glitter to the ornament
Once the ornaments are cool to the touch, paint the ornaments using acrylic paint. We painted the top of our stocking ornament white and the main part red.
Be sure to paint the sides of the ornaments as well. You can also paint the back if you'd like, but we left the backs of ours unpainted.Allow the paint to dry for 10 - 15 minutes.
If you want your stocking to have 2 different glitter colours, add Mod Podge to the white section first. Then cover the red paint with parchment paper (or regular paper) and sprinkle white glitter onto the glue. Remove the paper and shake off any extra glitter.
Brush a thin layer of Mod Podge on the red part of the stocking.
Cover the white glitter with paper and sprinkle red glitter on the main part of the stocking.
Again, shake off any extra glitter.
Step 5: Seal the ornament and add ribbon (optional)
If you don't want glitter to come off of your ornaments you can paint a thin layer of Mod Podge on top of the glitter. It will help keep glitter from getting everywhere! Allow to dry.
Tie an 8 inch length of ribbon or a piece of twine through the hole in the ornament.
Your salt dough ornament is complete!
TIPS:
1. If you forget to make a hole for hanging the ornament before baking (...not that this has happened to us, of course! haha), you can drill a hole in the baked ornaments.
2. When sealing ornaments with two colors (like the stocking), try not to drag the paint brush from one colour to the next as it will cause the glitter to spread. Brush the Mod Podge sealer horizontally and clean the brush in between colours.