Learn how to make a DIY salt dough garland for any season using shapes made out of salt dough with a hole in the top to thread twine.
With a good recipe for salt dough, the sky is the limit for the fun craft projects you can make!
One fun idea is to make beautiful circular salt dough ornaments with pine needle embellishments like we did here.
Today, we are going to make a DIY salt dough garland using the same circles we used for ornaments, but we are going to string a handful of them together to make a garland for the mantel!
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Why You'll Love This Craft
- Salt dough is easy and fun to make - it's basically homemade play doh!
- You only need three ingredients to make salt dough - flour, salt, and water.
- We are making salt dough ornaments, which you can use by themselves on your Christmas tree, or you can string many together to make a lovely salt dough garland. And you can personalize it however you want - we use pine needles to make imprints as embellishment.
Craft Supplies Needed
- Flour - For this recipe, we are using 2 cups of flour.
- Salt - You'll need 1 cup of salt.
- Water - You'll also need 1 cup of water to make the salt dough.
- Cookie Cutters - To make the salt dough in uniform shapes. I used a circle cookie cutter but you could use any shape.
- Pine Needles - To press into the salt dough to make an imprint.
- Straw - For punching a hole for the hanging string.
- Cookie Sheet - To bake the salt dough in the oven.
- Parchment Paper - To put the salt dough onto.
- Twine - My preference of hanging string, and compliments the natural color of the salt dough beautifully! You can also use any type of string - baker's twine, cotton string, yarn, embroidery floss, or thin rope - if you don't want to use twine.
- Scissors - To cut the hanging string.
How to Make a DIY Salt Dough Garland
Step 1. Using this easy salt dough recipe, make up a batch.
Step 2. Add 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of salt into a bowl.
Mix them together.
Step 3. Slowly add in 1 cup of water, mixing after adding small amounts of the water.
Step 4. Mix the dough until it's completely combined.
Knead the dough and refrigerate it for a short while to make it easier to handle.
Step 5. Roll the salt dough out on a flour-covered cutting board, using a flour-coated rolling pin.
Roll the dough out until it's about ¼" thick.
Step 6. Cut shapes (I made circles) out of the dough using cookie cutters and place on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.
Step 7. Use a drinking straw to make holes in the top of each ornament.
This will be a hole for the hanging string.
Step 8. Press pine needles into the salt dough circles for embellishment.
Step 9. Bake the salt dough ornaments in a 250 degree Fahrenheit oven for 2+ hours, until they are dry and hard.
(They can also be air-dried if you have more time - several days at least.)
Step 10. Loop a short piece of twine through each ornament and knot it at the top.
You want the loop to be small; much smaller than you would add for a traditional salt dough ornament.
Step 11. String each of the salt dough ornaments onto a long piece of twine to make the garland.
Step 12. Tie loops at the end, and your garland is ready to hang up!
PRO TIP: Depending on how heavy these individual ornaments are, or how slippery the twine garland string is, the salt dough circles may slide around.
You can experiment with adjusting the shape of the twine garland or even glue each ornament in place along the twine garland by gluing the small twine hanging loop to the garland string.
Common Questions
The best recipe for making salt dough is 2 cups flour, 1 cup salt, and 1 cup water. (Mixing the dry ingredients first, and then adding the water in small amounts, mixing in between.)
If you want to make a bigger or smaller batch, you can double or halve the recipe, as long as you keep the ratio of ingredients the same.
Double Batch of Salt Dough: 4 cups water, 2 cups salt, 2 cups water.
Half Batch of Salt Dough: 1 cup water, ½ cup salt, ½ cup water.
Even though salt dough is made with natural ingredients, it is not edible. Or rather, you wouldn't want to eat it because it would taste terrible. It's not poison or toxic, but it would taste like a dry salt cake.
Dry salt dough lasts a long time. If you seal the ornaments with clear acrylic sealer or Mod Podge, or paint them, they can last decades.
That is why salt dough is often used for making handprint ornaments of young children and pets. It makes beautiful keepsakes that last for years to come. (Store them in airtight containers away from pests and moisture to help them remain protected.)
This is a great way to repurpose the salt dough ornaments you made for Christmas and extend their decor life throughout the winter months!
More Winter Crafts You'll Love
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How to Make a DIY Salt Dough Garland
Materials
- Flour
- Salt
- Water
- Cookie Cutters
- Pine Needles
- Drinking Straw
- Cookie Sheet
- Parchment Paper
- Twine
- Scissors
Instructions
- Using this easy salt dough recipe, make up a batch.
- Add 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of salt into a bowl.Mix them together.
- Slowly add in 1 cup of water, mixing after adding small amounts of the water.
- Mix the dough until it's completely combined.Knead the dough and refrigerate it for a short while to make it easier to handle.
- Roll the salt dough out on a flour-covered cutting board, using a flour-coated rolling pin.Roll the dough out until it's about ¼" thick.
- Cut shapes (I made circles) out of the dough using cookie cutters and place on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.
- Use a drinking straw to make holes in the top of each ornament.This will be a hole for the hanging string.
- Press pine needles into the salt dough circles for embellishment.
- Bake the salt dough ornaments in a 250 degree Fahrenheit oven for 2+ hours, until they are dry and hard.(They can also be air-dried if you have more time - several days at least.)
- Loop a short piece of twine through each ornament and knot it at the top.You want the loop to be small; much smaller than you would add for a traditional salt dough ornament.
- Loop a short piece of twine through each ornament and knot it at the top.You want the loop to be small; much smaller than you would add for a traditional salt dough ornament.
- Tie loops at the end, and your garland is ready to hang up!
Notes
- You can use any shaped cookie cutter(s) to make the salt dough ornaments for your garland. I used circles in mine.
- You can use leaves, shapes, stamps, letters etc to make imprints in the salt dough. Or, you could make them smooth without impressions, and then paint them before you make the garland!
- You can double or halve the salt dough recipe if you want to make more or less than the recipe makes. Just make sure the ratio of ingredients remains the same.
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