Hey there! It’s getting closer and closer to Christmas and I’m running further and further behind – who doesn’t this time of year? How come in November it seems we have so much time and then all of a sudden it’s gone!
It was my turn to do a post for Art Glitter (by the way, hop on over there when you’re done here and check out my other glitter project) and I was pressed for time and out of ideas so I turned to Pinterest for inspiration and found some really cute salt dough ornaments. I thought they would look really cute covered in glitter and I was right!
I googled salt dough ornaments for recipes and several came up, then at the very bottom of the page there was one that called for microwaving the ornaments to dry. That was fantastic because nearly all the other recipes call for air dry (36-48 hours) or oven dry (3-4 hours). The salt dough ornaments are very easy to make and would be a perfect project to do with children.
The recipe for salt dough is easy – half, half, whole.
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour (I used bleached flour to get the white ornaments)
Mix ingredients and knead on a floured surface till soft and smooth. Roll out with a floured rolling pin to any thickness you like. Mine are about 1/4-inch thick. Cut out with standard cookie cutters or free-hand any design you like. If you intend to hang them make sure to make a hole for the thread. A straw works for a larger hole or use a toothpick for a smaller one.
The easy-and-quick part is the baking. This recipe calls for baking in the microwave for 2-3 minutes on a flat surface. I placed my ornaments directly on the glass tray in my microwave. I had to flip them over after about two minutes and cooked for another 1-2 minutes on the other side.
The ornaments cool off quickly from the microwave so they can be decorated right away.
I gathered up the glitters I wanted to use and poured some Designer Dries Clear onto my non-stick craft sheet. I applied the glue with a brush to one ornament at a time and sprinkled on the glitter.
I used three different glitters: Art Glitter Antique Silver Fine Vintage Glass Glitter, Silvery Moon Vintage Glass Glitter and Mini Pearl Microfine Pearlescent.
To finish them off I used a few tickets from a Crafty Secrets cut-out sheet and coated them with Clear Crackle Paint.
This is really a quick-and-easy holiday project. The dough can be cut into a variety of shapes and decorated in a number of ways. They would make great little gift tags on packages, too!
Check out my remake of a vintage-style lantern I picked up in the clearance section at a resale shop. It’s over on the Art Glitter blog. 
Linda Neff 