Homemade Keepsake Ornaments

I’ve seen some ideas for gorgeous ornaments on Pinterest lately, but when I go to the links there is no information- not what the ornaments were made from, or how they were made. I found one that I really like, but it was made from salt dough, and I’ve just not had amazing luck with salt dough ornaments– it seems like they turn out so heavy and lumpy, and the color isn’t all that nice.  So finally, I came across one small piece of information: Air Dry Clay, and I was able to use it to easily make some homemade keepsake ornaments.

These are really ease, and I love how much fun they were to customize!  And these keepsake ornaments would also be a unique reusable gift tag to use on presents!

Directions:

Pull off a small amount of dough and roll it into a ball. I made balls about 2″.  I recommend making these on parchment paper or wax paper.

Flatten with the palm of your hand, or using a rolling pin (but I found that it worked better for me to use my hands)

Use stamps, a stylus and your own handwriting, or whatever you’d like, to decorate the ornaments.  I even found some small snowflake buttons that I used to make snowflake impressions on one of the ornaments.

This is the fun part- make them however you want. For a great keepsake ornament, you can use your kid’s fingerprints or a baby’s foot, even!  You can do the decorating with ink if you’d like, or without. I did both ways, and liked both ways.

To make a hole for the string to go through, use a straw. Push down on the straw, and then twist, and the little piece of clay should pop right out.

Let dry for several days. It took about 2 days for mine to dry.

As they dry, the ornaments will become a bit thinner and smaller, so take that into consideration when you’re making them. They will also dry to a white color, even though the wet clay has a bit of a tannish hue.

Once they’re dry, feel free to paint them if you like, or just leave them plain. Tie a piece of ribbon through the hole, and you’re done!

This post is part of our Christmas Crafts & Decor Series.  Be sure to check out the rest and keep coming back this month for more crafts!  Also you can find all our Christmas posts in ONE PLACE!  Check out our Homemade Christmas page for all our Christmas goodies. 

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