All it takes to make this pretty salt dough garland are three simple ingredients from your pantry, cookie cutters, paint, and string! Yes, it's a primitive salt dough recipe but this is an easy Christmas craft and the decorating possibilities for this craft project are endless. You and your kiddos will love making these no-bake salt dough Christmas garlands so much, you'll end up making it a tradition to look forward to every year!
Actually, the idea for this salt dough garland came from the salt dough gingerbread ornaments I made last Christmas. Do you remember those? I had so much fun making and decorating those homemade ornaments with craft paint. I used those ornaments in festive tablescapes and as pretty holiday decorations for Christmas presents.
This Christmas when I was thinking of making a pretty garland to drape over the fireplace in the living room this super-easy salt dough recipe was the first thing that came to mind.
Table of contents
Air dry salt dough recipe
To make this salt dough Christmas garland you will first need to grab my salt dough ornament recipe. Basically, you're only going to need salt, all-purpose flour, and some warm water so go and grab that recipe and come back here so we can get on with making these salt dough Christmas ornaments.
★Tip★ For a Christmassy aroma, add a few drops of essential oils to the dry ingredients in the salt-dough recipe.
How to make your own salt dough Christmas garland
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Supplies
- Salt dough (Get the recipe)
- Large bowl
- Christmas cookie cutter collection
- Acrylic non-yellowing varnish
- Glue gun
- Glue sticks
- Black spray paint or acrylic paint
- White spray paint or acrylic paint
- Gold spray paint or acrylic paint
- Ornament hooks
Decorations
★Tip★ Gingerbread men look great in a garland! It's easy to make them with a gingerbread man cookie cutter.
Instructions
Just follow the simple step-by-step directions below and you can't go wrong!
Once you have your batch of salt dough, use a rolling pin to roll it out on a piece of parchment/baking paper.
For the next step, use some cookie cutters to cut out Christmassy shapes in the salt dough.
Don't forget to make some holes in the salt dough so that you can string the ornaments into a garland later.
Place the ornaments on a cookie sheet to dry turning them every now and again so that they dry evenly. By placing the decorations on a baking sheet you will prevent them from bending while they dry.
Drying time will vary depending upon the humidity in your home but after about a day, the ornaments should already be quite hard. Remove the parchment paper and place the ornaments onto an oven rack to complete drying. They will take between two to four days to dry out completely.
★Tip★ Kids love making holiday crafts. Keep some salt dough back for them to make a special ornament for the Christmas tree!
How to paint salt-dough
To paint my gingerbread ornaments last year, I used these pretty acrylic paints. This time, I decided to try out some spray paint and that turned out great as well.
I used black paint for the trees, white for the snowflakes, and gold for the stars.
A layer of acrylic sealer will make the ornaments even more durable.
I thought the Christmas tree decorations looked a little bit boring so I wrapped them with some silver wire to jazz them up.
The hot glue gun was perfect for gluing a small piece of silver wire to each of the Christmas tree ornaments. Here's how to do that:
Add a dab of glue to the top of a Christmas tree ornament
Hold the end of the silver wire in the hot glue until it hardens
Wrap silver wire around the Christmas tree ornament
Cut the end and attach it to the ornament with another dab of glue
Repeat for all Christmas tree ornaments
How to string a salt-dough garland
Now that you've made lots of lovely salt dough decorations, it's time to make them into a beautiful Christmas garland.
Thread the ornaments onto a piece of striped baker's twine or ribbon making sure to alternate the shapes as you go.
Now, you have a lovely salt dough garland to add to your Christmas decorations!
★Tip★ Turn left-over ornaments into gift tags or tree ornaments.
How to store your salt dough garland
Store your garland in an airtight container and it will last for years to come!
Conclusion
Salt dough projects are great for kids and adults alike and these homemade decorations are perfect for making beautiful keepsakes for the Christmas season.
Making salt-dough decorations is quickly becoming one of my favorite holiday traditions, maybe it will become one of yours too!
Happy crafting and happy holidays!
Salt dough garlands to buy
If you love the look of these primitive salt dough garlands but don't have to time make the ornaments yourself, here are some ready-made options to buy.
More Christmas crafts
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Rebecca says
Thank you for all of your posts. Merry Christmas. ☃️
Jayne Westerholt says
Thanks for reading them, Rebecca! Merry Christmas to you too!
JoAnn Schlueter says
Looks like a lot of unique ideas
Jayne Westerholt says
Thanks, JoAnn. Happy Christmas to you!