Salt Dough Ornaments/Tags with a Twist
Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 10:17AM 
As a child, I had a German friend whose mother was a very talented salt dough artist. When I'd go to her house often times we'd end up at the kitchen table completely surrounded by salt dough and our plethora of creations. It has remained a favorite medium of mine but now I try to put my own spin on the craft.
First, you need the dough.
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
3/4 - 1 cup warm water
Mix the salt and flour until combined, and then slowly add the water and mix until the dough pulls together. Too sticky? add small amounts of flour. Too crumbly? Add little bits of water.
If you'd like to color your dough add a drop or two of food coloring to the water BEFORE mixing with the flour. A marbled effect? Add the food coloring directly to the dough as you kneed it. You can also use acrylic paints to color your dough.
Kneed the dough for approx 10 minutes. (this is tough work.. set the timer as you'll want to stop part way through!) Cut off a chunk of dough to work with and place the rest in under a damp paper towel or wrap it in plastic wrap.
Roll the dough out nice and thin. (atleast that is how I like my tags/ornaments) They dry quicker and feel more delicate/elegant to me. Now, take out your rubber stamps, an ink pad and get stamping! Stamp directly onto the rolled dough. To smooth out the surface of the dough after you stamped, you can gently roll over your image with a rolling pin. (I really like the small plastic rollers that came with my daughter's playdough)
Cut out your images with a sharp knife, I like to give mine a tag look by beveling the top corners. Eyeball it! Use a straw to cut out a small hole for the string. The pieces above I had placed on a cookie sheet. Don't do this! :)
Put them on parchment paper, on top of a drying rack and flip them often over the next few hours to dry them evenly. You can bake them in the oven but I have found, even at a low temp, some have the tendency to 'puff'. Not a nice feature. They will take a few days to dry completely. I brushed a small amount of white glue to certain spots (ie.. the tree stems, the snowflake) and sprinkled them with glitter. I am not a huge glitter fan, but the fine glitter adds a nice little sparkle.
These are limited only by the rubber stamps you have. Although, even without stamps there are plenty of things with texture that you can use to 'stamp' onto the dough. Coins, you can lightly draw with a sharp pencil, small dots with a fork, use cookie cutters to cut them out, ( my tools are only a knife and a wine glass for the circles).
They are great tags for gifts.. you can use a fine tipped sharpie to write on the reverse side. Small messages of love and friendship never get old, especially when handmade!
Enjoy!
xoxo~
Abbie
crafts, hints and tips, holidays 
Reader Comments (29)
Abbie, those are so pretty! I made some heart shaped ones one year. I painted holly leaves & berries & names on them. They sure weren't as pretty as yours, though! :)
Okay, I'm inspired. Perfect thing to tag the "cookie mix in a jar" with for my coworkers. Thoughtful, pretty, inexpensive, homemade. Thank you for sharing, Bubba Lou and I will have fun tomorrow, and we'll definitely add some glitter. We're all about the sparkle! xoxo...let's try to get together before the holiday!
I'm going to try using my KitchenAid to knead the dough...although my arms could use the workout.
Wow these are fantastic! Thanks so much - I just HAVE to try this... Do they dry hard or flexible? and how long do they last? Just worried about the heat here xx
Thanks for popping by my blog. You don't see an Abbie everyday. Love your blog! Just when i thought I was done crafting this year:). Beautiful stuff.
Great idea! I love this, I think I'll do this too, but I'm not sure whether it will be for Christmas 2009 or 2010; every year I think I'll start with Christmasdecorations in July (next year!). Thanks anyhow!
Great work! I have done that b ack in the 70s, but my "art" was never as beautiful and creative as yours.
Lots of greetings from Germany! Susanne
What a great idea for a craft to do with the grandsons when they get a little older (sorta like play dough!) - but, this can also be a very elegant tag! TFS!
Jackie
Oh wow, I never heard of doing this but now I must try it!
These are simply gorgeous...I love their simplicity.
Thanks!
Be sure NOT to use Self Raising Flour. It's been years since I Salt Doughed it. You made some nice pieces
Ooh rustic and elegant rolled into one! Will have to have a go at making some of these.
Oh my! I love this I had just posted a memory of making salt dough ornaments and what fun it was. This is a new idea that I will share with my daughter.
Thanks!
Frances
Wow... I was going to tackle cinnamon applesauce ornaments, but after seeing these... I'm going to have to change my approach! These are just lovely! Thanks for sharing them:)
Those are so darling! I remember that dough, too. Haven't thought about it in years.
But this is worth doing a little kneading again. :)
Merry Christmas!
I made these with the kids, decorated with glimmer mist, pretty ribbons and we all had a blast. Glad to see others do this also. Happy Holidays.
I have the Perfect Stamp..and micro glitter....Irish Linen String...LOL and Green beads to add at the top! Thank you for the Awesome Inspration!!!...I have a blog on google..bgoodstudio..I make things while I homeschool!
Another great idea. A warning - I made some salt decorations years ago.... okay, the truth, DECADES ago. They lasted many years but after awhile they started to crack and one particular damp winter they crumbled. I bet I could have sealed them in some way to avoid the loss. I'm sure nowadays you can find a matt finish sealer if you don't want them to be shiny.
Thanks for the Inspiration....made a Cross with the word Love in Bronze &Purple and Butterfly stamp then wrapped it with wire and beads.. added a sheer ribbon ..it's Perfect for a Gift:D....
Beautiful, where do you buy those nice stamps. We can not buy them in Denmark!!
Thanks Abbie. I am always so inspired by your site.
I just saw this post and I can not wait to try it. Thank you for this wonderful Idea!
I also just love your blog and thank you for all the great freebies!
God bless and have a wonderful day!!
Sharon from Idaho
How cool are these tags. Great Christmas tag ideas and looks like sooo much fun.
Thank you for the tutorial.
Hugs,
Anna