Arts & Crafts

Salt Dough Handprint

Supplies:

  • 4 cups of all purpose flour
  • 1 cup salt
  • 1.5 cups warm water
  • Clear glaze finish or Mod Podge

Instructions: 

  1. Preheat your oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Combine all of your ingredients and knead for 10 minutes. If your dough is too dry add a little bit more water in and continue to knead. 
  3. Roll out the dough to a thickness that you'd like your salt dough ornament to be.
  4. Using a large cookie cutter, cut out different shapes.
  5. Have your child place their hand into the salt dough ornament. If the dough is too hard to get an impring it may be too dry and you can continue to knead by adding in a little bit more water. 
  6. Using a straw, make a hole in the top for where you want to hang your salt dough.
  7. Bake for 1-2 hours. If your ornaments are still doughy, put back in for another hour. (It will depend on your thickness how long you need to bake. The thinner pieces will take less time. 
  8. If you encounter too much puffing, roll out thinner ornaments and this will help reduce the puffing. If the ornament is still a bit doughy, bake for longer or let sit out a few days to harden before decorating. The thickness of the dough will determine how long you have to bake them. You can raise the temperature up to 325 degrees Fahrenheit but do this gradually as they may start to puff up. We prefer to bake them at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for longer and let them air dry for a few days. 
  9. Once cool, you can decorate by painting with acrylic or kids paint.
  10. To make the hand glittery, fill the handprint with glue then sprinkle glitter on top of the glue, shake off the excess and let it dry.
  11. Spray with a clear glaze finish or finish with mod podge.