christmas dough ornaments
I have trialed a few recipes for dough ornaments, but these remain my favourite as you can’t beat that white powdery appearance the cornflour gives when dry. The best part - you can simply leave them to air dry… no baking required.
you will need
two cups baking soda
one cup of cornstarch
one and a quarter cups of water
couple of drops of lavender and tea tree essential oil
stovetop pan
large bowl
wooden spoon
rolling pin
parchmment paper
cookie cutters in whatever shape you fancy (you can find plenty of designs available online)
letter stamps (I found mine here)
ribbon or twine (to hang)
a needle and/or straw (to pierce your hole and thread your ribbon or twine)
jingle bells (in varying shapes and colours) for decoration
what to do
Mix your cornstarch, baking soda, essential oils and water together with a wooden spoon in a stovetop pan.
Once runny and combined, heat gently whilst stirring continually to achieve a thick dough.
Upend your hot pan, and tip your dough ball into a cooler bowl. Leave it covered with a damp towel until cool enough to handle.
Knead the ball when cool, to form a smooth, firm consistency.
Using a little bit at a time (as it has a tendency to dry out a little as you work), you can roll it out onto parchment paper to get crafting. I would recommend the thinner the better and suggest you aim for a thickness of around half a cm.
Use your cookie cutters to cut out shapes and stamp them as desired with the letter stamps. Remember if using the letter stamps I linked - the words need to be inserted into the letter holder backwards (facing left) and insert the final letter of the word first (ie display the word backwards in the letter holder). In this way they will appear correct when stamped into the dough. I suggest testing them out on a waste piece of dough before stamping straight onto the shapes you have cut (until you have the hang of it).
Whilst still wet, push a needle or straw through the top of your shape to allow for them to be hung with twine once dry.
Leave them out and exposed to the air overnight. After a few hours, turn them over so they dry properly on both sides.
Finish by threading twine or ribbon through the hole and knotting it in a loop to hang on your tree.
