Cinnamon and Salt Dough Ornaments

The Santa.com team has made a lot of dough ornaments. We all agree these recipes are easy enough for a child to make and will delight your family, friends, and neighbors this holiday season when the final creations are gifted and tied with a pretty bow!

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Salt Dough Recipe

A classic recipe to make classic salt dough ornaments.

Ingredients:

• All-purpose flour (4 cups)— any generic all-purpose flour is fine

• Table salt (1 cup)—Salt is just to preserve the ornament and make them un-tasty!! 

• Warm water (1 1/2 cups)— We recommend warm water as it will help the dough come together more easily.

Directions:

1. Sift the salt and flour together, add water slowly and stir until dough forms with a rubber spatula or a dutch dough whisk. (Hint if the dough is too sticky add more flour or too dry, add more water.) Once the dough becomes too hard to stir, knead with your hands until it becomes a pliable play dough consistency.

2. To create your play space - where you or your child can roll out the dough- tape parchment paper to a counter or smooth surface or use a silicone mat. Sprinkle a little flour on it so the dough will lift after it is rolled out and roll out portions of dough with a roller until about a quarter-inch thick (you can also roll out the dough between 2 sheets of plastic and wrap any unused dough in plastic to keep from drying out.)   

3. Once rolled out use cookie cutters to cut out shapes and peel excess dough away.  Use a straw, skewer, or pipe cleaner to create a small hole at the top of the ornament. Remove cutouts and place them on a cookie sheet to air dry (If you have time - it can take a few days to dry completely) or Bake at 250 for 2-4 hours depending on the size and thickness of the ornaments. (Highly recommended for humid environments. Also, if the edges darken or curl, remove them from the oven and allow them to air dry a bit, and then put them back in at a lower heat)

4. Once dried paint and decorate with acrylic paint, mod podge, glitter, or sequins.  To create texture use things like forks or straws to create designs prior to baking. 

Cinnamon Dough Ornaments

For another dough ornament option, this recipe is easy, smells delightful, and looks like gingerbread. We tried several and love Iowa Girl’s Eats recipe and ingredient ratio the best.

Ingredients:

• 5 oz cinnamon - any cinnamon will do

• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp applesauce - not chunky and we prefer unsweetened

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F. Mix applesauce and cinnamon in a small bowl using a rubber spatula until a smooth ball of dough is formed. (You may need to use your hands to incorporate all of the cinnamon.) Using about 1/4 of the dough at a time, roll dough to 1/4 inch between two sheets of plastic wrap. Peel off the top sheet of plastic wrap. Cut dough into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Remove excess dough leaving shapes. Make a hole at top of each ornament with a straw or skewer. Place ornaments on a baking sheet.

2. Bake for 2 1/2 hours. Cool ornaments on wire rack. (Or, to dry ornaments at room temperature, carefully place them on a wire rack. Let stand 1 to 2 days or until 

3. Once dried these will be darker so paint and decorate with opaque acrylic paint, then add mod podge, glitter, or sequins