Christmas Elving.... Part 3

One of my favorite projects is the annual Salt Dough Christmas Ornaments.  Here is a link to last years.... and the year before. I keep an eye out for a cookie cutter all year long looking for the perfect ornament shape. This year I found a cookie cutter to share with all the little ones to show where "Auntie" lives. I believe some of them even think my last name is "FromOhio".  This year I made 12 ornaments to share... I just love being "Auntie". 

Here is the Salt Dough recipe I use... I love it, because it is super easy.

½ cup salt

1 cup flour

½ cup hot water

Preheat oven to 250°. Mix together salt, flour, and hot water until dough is formed. Knead dough on a floured surface until mixture is elastic and smooth. If dough is too sticky add a small amount of flour. Careful not to add to much or dough will crack. Roll out dough to ¼” thick. Use cookie cutters to form shapes. Use a straw to make a hole near the top. Place on un-greased cookie sheet and bake 2 hours. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Paint with acrylic paint… Use ribbon to make ornament.

and here is where I got the twine to string them.

2010 Christmas Ornaments!

I love the new tradition of creating handmade Christmas ornaments for all my nieces and nephews. It is fun seeing them (or should I say their moms)get excited about them. I hope someday in the future when they are helping decorate the tree they will have fun adding each new ornament to the tree. My favorite ornaments are the one my aunt gave me each year.

I used a new recipe for salt dough. I think I will go back to the one I used last year. I liked how they puffed up... they made them even more unique. I made moose, stockings and stars.

Christmas Ornaments

When I was a girl my Aunt Nancy gave each of us kids a new ornament for the Christmas tree. I always loved finding the new ornament. Nancy would write our names and the date on them. A couple of years ago Mom packed up all of the ornaments and gave them to me so I could put them on my own tree.

Now I am the "Auntie" and I have continued the tradition for all my "nieces" and nephews. I was having trouble finding cute ornaments that didn't cost a fortune... and then I remembered Salt Dough. I made a batch and used cookie cutters to cut out gingerbread men and stars. I painted them with acrylic paint and wrote names and dates. I think they turned out great. I expected them to come out flat, but instead they puffed up a bit. Now each ornament is just a little different. I love them!