2-Ingredient White Clay Dough Ornaments
Easy, bright, WHITE CLAY DOUGH ORNAMENTS for kids to make with baking soda, cornstarch and water.
My daycare hooligans LOVE playing with dough! And now that the Christmas season is drawing near, we’re doing Christmas dough activities!
Last week it was our Christmas Playdough Cookie shop, and this week we’re making white clay dough ornaments for the kids to take home and hang on their Christmas trees. (Check out our Cardboard Sugar Cookie Ornaments too!)
Bright White Clay that Stays White when Dry
What I love about this recipe is that the clay stays pure white when it dries. Some clays that contain flour, and they always end up being cream-coloured when they dry. This clay is made with just baking soda and corn starch, so it dries snow-white.
How Much Dough Does This Clay Dough Recipe Make?
Using standard sized cookie cutters, we get about 26-28 ornaments out of one batch of this dough.
Recipe for White Clay Dough:
Ingredients
- 1 cup baking soda (bicarbonate Soda)
- 1/2 cup corn starch (corn flour in the UK)
- 3/4 cup of warm water
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Instructions:
Mix dry ingredients in a cooking pot, and add the water. Stir over medium heat while the mixture bubbles and thickens. Continue stirring as mixture pulls away from the sides of the pot and becomes similar in consistency to thick cake frosting.
Remove the pot from the heat, and allow the dough to cool until it’s comfortable to handle.
Turn your dough out onto the counter or a cutting mat and knead it into a smooth, supple ball of dough.
We often glitter our ornaments afterwards, but you can also add glitter during the kneading stage if you like, like The Imagination Tree did with their clay reindeer ornaments.
Making your ornaments:
Roll your dough out to about 1/4 inch thick, and use cookie cutters to cut out your ornaments.
Make a hole in each ornament with a drinking straw, so you’ll be able to thread a cord through for hanging.
What to do if your clay dough is too wet?
You want your dough to feel slightly sticky but you don’t want it to actually stick to your hands. If you find it’s too sticky to handle, toss a little extra baking soda on the counter top and knead it into your dough.
Decorating your ornaments:
Gently press your beads and jewels into your ornaments.
Push them in deep enough to embed the bead or gem in the clay but not so hard that it goes right through the other side.
Drying your ornaments:
Transfer your ornaments to a baking/cooling rack and allow them to dry fully. We’ve found they dry faster on a baking rack than on a baking pan because the air can circulate underneath the ornaments.
To prevent clay dough from cracking when drying:
You can place them in the oven set on very low heat for a couple of hours., but we’ve found it’s best to let them dry slowly at room temperature to minimize cracking.
We leave ours sitting near (but not too close to) the fireplace overnight. It can take up to 24 hours for the ornaments to dry if the room is cool or if the humidity is high.
When they’re completely dry, thread some ribbon or cord through the holes in your ornaments, and hang them on your Christmas tree!
Aren’t they pretty?
You can Glitter or Paint Clay Dough Too!
You can get even fancier when decorating your ornaments, and jazz them up with paint and glitter. We’ve done it here:
You can also press your dough onto a patterned surface for an embossed effect before cutting and drying your ornaments.
Enjoy and have fun!
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2-Ingredient White Clay Dough
This easy recipe makes a bright white clay that’s perfect for kids to make homemade ornaments with.
Supplies
- 1 cup baking soda (bicarbonate soda)
- 1/2 cup corn starch (corn flour in the UK)
- 3/4 cup of warm water
Instructions
Making your Clay Dough
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Mix dry ingredients in a cooking pot, and add the water.
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Stir continuously over medium heat until while it bubbles and thickens.
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When it pulls away from the sides of the pot and resembles mashed potatoes, remove from heat.
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Let it cool a bit, and then transfer to clean counter or cutting mat and knead it into smooth, soft ball of dough.
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If dough is too wet, sprinkle a bit of baking soda on the countertop and knead it into your dough until it’s no longer sticky.
Making your ornaments:
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On a cutting mat, roll dough out to 1/4 inch thick, and use cookie cutters to cut out ornaments.
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Poke a hole in each ornament with a drinking straw.
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Press beads and jewels into the surface of the clay.
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Transfer ornaments to a cookie sheet and allow to dry for several hours in a warm, sunny spot, or overnight in cooler temperatures.
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Loop a ribbon through the hole in each ornament, and hang on your Christmas tree.
And now, for a terrific, easy salt dough recipe, head on over to Red Ted Art.
More easy and inexpensive Christmas Crafts for Kids:
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
