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Salt Dough Recipe: Valentine’s Decorations

January 11, 2013

I know that salt dough decorations and salt dough recipes were “all the rage” this winter. Lots of people had ago at making salt dough Christmas tree decorations – which is understandable, as they are salt dough is so easy to make and great fun for both adults and kids. We made salt dough stars and trees for our Christmas tree and also took the opportunity to make some hearts – they look great both for Christmas, AND for Valentine’s.

Salt dough crafts for kids

These wonderfully simple salt dough heats (and other variations on salt dough) feature in ourย Christmas Ornament Book. Each craft is shared on one page – making the perfect worksheet print outs. Lovely to have them all in one place too!
christmas-ornaments-3d-images-1a

Only $7.99

Get yours today and keep it forever!

Easy Salt Dough Recipe:

  • 2 cups of flour
  • 1 cup of salt
  • UP TO 1 cup of water (less is better!)
  • Acrylic Paints for painting
  • Cookie cutters

Easy Salt Dough Hearts:

salt dough recipe

1) Mix your ingredients. Be sure to add the water gradually. I often only use 1/2 – 3/4 of a cup of water. You do not want your dough to be sticky.

2) Roll out to about 5mm.

valentine's saltdough

3) Use cookie cutters to cut your shapes. Use a skewer or chopstick to make holes for hanging.

4) Bake in the oven at 100C for 3-4 hours. Do turn your salt dough items 2-3 times AND re-insert you skewer to make sure that the holes do not bake shut.

5) Once fully dry and cooled paint – I like to let my saltdough out to dry another 2-3 days “just in case”.

heart ornaments for kids

6) The kids painted one side and I did the other for them.

Salt dough crafts for kids

They looked great on our Christmas tree, but also will look nice as little Valentine’s decorations. We may give one or two to the children’s friends!

Do take a peak at our other Salt Dough Recipe ideas – including making beads and making coloured saltdough! (and check out these Valentines Cookiesย and these Valentines Cookie Pops, yummy)

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Filed Under: Christmas, Kids Craft, salt dough, Valentines 45 Comments

Comments

  1. laura@howtocookgoodfood says

    January 11, 2013 at 11:05 am

    I love this idea and will be using it more than once. They look brilliant!

    Reply
  2. Red Ted Art says

    January 11, 2013 at 5:33 pm

    Fabulous, so pleased you like them!

    Reply
  3. PragmaticMom says

    January 13, 2013 at 3:49 pm

    They came out beautifully! Will you use them for Valentine’s gifts

    Reply
  4. Red Ted Art says

    January 13, 2013 at 4:22 pm

    Yes, am pretty certain Red Ted teacher will get one!

    Reply
  5. Kathy says

    January 13, 2013 at 10:57 pm

    I’ve been totally obsessed with salt dough for almost 20 years! These are awesome!!! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  6. Trisha @ Inspiration Laboratories says

    January 19, 2013 at 3:40 am

    We love salt dough ornaments, too! I love how bright red the hearts are. Thanks for sharing at the Sunday Showcase. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  7. Pinkoddy says

    January 23, 2013 at 7:11 am

    They are a good idea. Is that plain flour?

    Reply
    • Red Ted Art says

      January 23, 2013 at 7:42 am

      Yes, plain flour!

      Reply
  8. Traycmo says

    February 7, 2013 at 5:50 pm

    I would like to have my students make a 3-D map using salt dough. Is this recipe good for wrapping and working on over several days?

    Reply
    • Red Ted Art says

      February 7, 2013 at 5:55 pm

      Yes, I have kept it in the fridge before. You may have to re-knead it, if salt crystals form!

      Reply
  9. Kerri says

    February 11, 2013 at 4:34 am

    This is a great idea! I’m in the process of making a round up list on Valentine’s activities. Including a link to this. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
    • Red Ted Art says

      February 11, 2013 at 9:16 am

      Awe thanks! Much appreciated!

      Reply
  10. Katie T says

    February 13, 2013 at 11:28 pm

    What temp do you bake them at in Farenheight? Thank you for posting!

    Reply
    • Red Ted Art says

      February 14, 2013 at 2:52 pm

      Between 120F and 200F. Prob would opt for 150F.

      Reply
      • phyllis says

        February 2, 2014 at 12:50 am

        My oven starts at 200 so I don’t have choice.

        Reply
        • Red Ted Art says

          February 2, 2014 at 11:40 am

          I wouldn’t use the oven then and let it air dry.

          Reply
  11. Liz berry says

    November 4, 2013 at 12:56 pm

    Definitely going to try these for my toddler art club!!!! thanks for the inspiration.

    Reply
  12. nancy says

    November 4, 2013 at 12:56 pm

    Wouldn’t they dry on their own if you just leave them outside for a few days? I am looking for a no bake recipe. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Red Ted Art says

      November 4, 2013 at 4:17 pm

      Yes, they should dry naturally too, it just takes a lot longer – prob 1-2 weeks depending on how warm the room is. Remember to keep turning them to allow to dry on both sides!

      Reply
  13. Carolyn V. Johns says

    November 30, 2013 at 4:10 pm

    I made salt dough ornaments 20 yrs ago for craft fairs. Discovered that by letting them sit out on trays (was making lots) before putting in oven allowed them to dry on the surface, leaving them white, and then baking trays of them overnight for about 6-7 hours…they came out like porcelain (kinda)… You could also add food coloring to the water to get colored dough….have fun….cj

    Reply
  14. Pinkoddy says

    January 26, 2014 at 5:32 pm

    Honestly I can’t believe I’ve never made salt dough – it’s just we don’t have salt in the house and I never remember to buy any. They do look really good though.

    Reply
    • Red Ted Art says

      January 26, 2014 at 7:42 pm

      I buy it “bulk” especially!!

      Reply
  15. Emmys Mummy says

    January 27, 2014 at 7:30 pm

    Those are lovely.
    I tend to cheat and add the paint before cooking them

    Reply
  16. domestic goddesque says

    January 29, 2014 at 8:44 am

    thanks for linking up to the #getyourcrafton challenge ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  17. Kelly says

    February 5, 2014 at 2:27 pm

    How large of a batch does this recipe make?! And my oven starts at 200…do you think they would be ok in that setting if watched carefully?!

    Reply
    • Red Ted Art says

      February 5, 2014 at 6:00 pm

      Is that F or C? My low heat is Celsius.. so you need to convert it. If your oven really is that hot, I would let them air dry over the course of a week or so. I have no idea how many it makes, so sorry. We kind of just wing it… but probably 20-30?

      Reply
  18. reshma ajit says

    February 6, 2014 at 1:07 pm

    Lovely I really love ur creativity

    1 question. Do these get moulds or turn to dust after a particular period of time?

    Reply
    • Red Ted Art says

      February 6, 2014 at 1:47 pm

      Mine have kept well. I have heard that SOME people have had theirs turn mouldy. I suspect that they didn’t dry it fully or didn’t store it in a dry place.

      Reply
      • reshma ajit says

        February 8, 2014 at 3:31 am

        Thanks a lot will surely try this.:-)

        Reply

Trackbacks

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