Better Than Salt Dough {Homemade Clay for Ornaments or Handprints} (2024)

I know you’ve had that time when your kid has come home from school and said, “MOM! I need a recipe of Salt Dough to bring to school tomorrow, how do I make salt dough?!” Ugh. I never have enough salt and I hate making it because the salt makes my hands feel all dry and itchy. That is when I decided there had to be a better way! I found this recipe and I feel in love. It’s more like clay and it makes your hands feel like silk! This recipe is MUCH better than salt dough. Try it out and have some fun!

How to make homemade clay, better than salt dough . . .

Better Than Salt Dough, Homemade Clay

• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup baking soda
• 3/4 cup water
• cookie cutters
• for fun: embossed rolling pinsandcraft paint
• optional: food coloring (if you want to make colored dough, add the food coloring to the water before you mix it in.)

Making Clay

In a medium sized pot combine the cornstarch, baking soda, and water. Stir over medium heat. After a couple of minutes, the mixture will begin to thicken. When it looks like smooth, mashed potatoes, remove the pot from the heat. Spoon the ball of dough into a bowl and cover it with a damp cloth or plastic wrap until it’s cool. When it’s cool, knead it on a smooth surface (I use my silicone mat for this. I use this mat about 3 times a week while baking.) until smooth and silky. Add more cornstarch if it feels too sticky and/or sticks to the surface.

*You can let the ornaments air dry over night in a warm place or you can bake them.If you think that you might live in a very dry place or low elevation, PLEASE air dry your clay with a plastic bag looselyover the top to help prevent cracking like this:

**If your clay cracks while drying, just fill in those cracks with more clay, cover looselywith a plastic bag and let it dry on it’s own. This may take a few days but it will work.

To bake them:

Preheat oven to 175 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out clay to 1/4 inch thick on a silicone matlightly dusted with cornstarch. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Transfer shapes to the prepared baking sheet. You can use a straw to make a hole at the top of the ornament so you can add ribbon later to hang it. We used a bamboo skewer. Place them in the oven for about an hour, *turning them over halfway through cooking.*

We love using the Wilton Christmas Cookie Cutter Set for these, but you could use this dough for any time of year. We used these little micro cookie cutters for some fun holes and shapes to adddimensionto our ornaments.

This is also great for hand prints or foot prints!

I found these fun embossed rolling pins on Amazon the other day. How much fun would these be for the kids to create patterns while playing with the clay? These would be fun with play dough and magic sand too!

Let your kids have fun creating and spending time with each other! Don’t they look excited!? Ha Ha! Boys . . .

Before Baking:

After Baking: (remember you can let these air dry over night if baking them doesn’t work for you)

Have fun painting them if you want! We like to use Acrylic Paint and these paint brushes to decorate our ornaments.

We used a bamboo skewer to indent lines on this candy cane before we baked it. Then it was the perfect guide for our paint!

Here is our cute little stacked ornament. My daughter made this all by herself! So creative!

Here is a printable version of the recipe to make your life easier!

Need more fun ideas for homemade Christmas ornaments to make with your kids? Here you go!

Candy Cane Heart Ornaments

Gum Drop Snowflakes