How to Make Christmas Ornaments with Dough

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Last Updated: May 6, 2021 Tested

Making beautiful holiday ornaments with dough can be fun and easy if you follow these steps. It's also a fun craft idea for children! This article teaches you how to make Christmas ornaments out of dough using either a microwave or an oven.

Ingredients

Oil (enough for your hands)
4 cups of flour
1 1/2 cups of water
1 cup of salt
Food coloring

Yields one dozen cookies

Part 1

Part 1 of 4:

Mixing the Dough

This will give the dough more resiliency as you work with it.
Use your hands for best results. Knead dough for approximately 10 minutes.
Roll out dough until it is approximately ¹⁄₄ inch (0.6 cm) thick. Dough rolled too thickly will take longer to dry and could be doughy even after cooking; dough rolled too thin causes the dried ornaments to break more easily.
4
Cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Reindeer, elves, stars, snowflakes, Christmas trees, birds, or angels are all great ideas of ornament shapes.
- Alternately, let the kids design their own shapes. These ornaments won't have the clean, articulated lines of a cookie cutter, but they'll be one-of-a-kind, and entirely their own!
The hole should be at least ¹⁄₈ inch (0.3 cm) from the top of the ornament.
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Part 2

Part 2 of 4:

Cooking in the Oven

Allow ornaments to cool.
This will prevent staining as you paint the ornaments.
4
Paint ornaments with poster or tube paints. Decorate until ornaments are satisfactory. Once dry, spray with clear polyurethane on both sides to preserve.
- These ornaments are not suitable or safe to eat. Do not attempt to eat them.
Alternately, use ribbon or thread to hang.

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Part 3

Part 3 of 4:

Cooking in the Microwave

This will prevent staining as you paint the ornaments.
Alternately, use poster or tube paints. Greens, reds, silvers, golds, and deep blues are considered traditional Christmas colors.
For a gauzier texture, use cotton swabs. Decorate until ornaments are satisfactory.
Cook for about two minutes at high.
It should feel like a moderately dampened sponge. If it is already dried out, take ornaments out of the microwave and allow to cool.
Take ornaments from microwave and allow to cool.
7
Spray ornaments with extra hold hairspray or lightly coat with Flecto Varathane (acrylic finish) or decoupage. This will give the ornaments a nice, glossy look.
- Note: Do not microwave the ornaments after applying hairspray and /or acrylic finish. These products are flammable and will ignite in your microwave, causing a fire hazard.
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Part 4

Part 4 of 4:

Decorating Ideas

1
Put silver cookie beads in ornaments while still damp. This will give the ornaments a bit of sparkle by reflecting light.
- Cookie sprinkles can be lightly applied and lightly pressed into the dough.
Lightly wet the yarn before pressing it into ornaments: This will help you control its design as well as keep it from browning in either the oven or the microwave.
Set small amounts of dough in different colors to be rolled into eyes, mouths, shoes, buttons, etc. Paint a different color for added contrast.
Use checkered patterns, or score circles or simply squiggly lines.
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Community Q&A

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Question

Are these supposed to go on the Christmas tree?

Community Answer

They certainly can go on your Christmas tree, or you can put them wherever you like. You could also make them and give them away as gifts.

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Question

Do I have to put a hole in it?

Christopher

Top Answerer

To hang them, you must be able to put a string through the hole to create the loop to hang them up. Putting a hole is necessary if you would like to hang them up.

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Question

After kneading the dough, can it be refrigerated until the next day?

Community Answer

Yes, as long as you save it in an air-tight container or Ziploc bag so it doesn't dry out.

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Tips

If you paint before you do the drying, it will allow for more contrast, especially on ornaments that have two or more colors.

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Spray paper plates with a non-stick cooking spray (such as PAM) to avoid sticking.

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Children especially love working with the dough, cutting with the cookie cutters and helping with the painting, while toddlers adore rolling the dough as this gives them a chance to join in the fun.

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Warnings

In case of ingestion, if you have used any kind of color that's not food color, call a doctor immediately. If there aren't toxic substance in them, make sure the child is given a good amount of fluids through the day due to the high salt content of the dough.

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Do not place anything metal in the microwave.

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Do not place dough on newspaper; it will get ink on the dough.

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Adult supervision is recommended when placing the ornaments in the microwave.

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This dough is not edible due to the high salt concentration (although if just a small amount is ingested, it won't hurt you. The taste alone will be enough to deter large quantities

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