DIY Christmas Ornaments with Cornstarch and Baking Soda
It's been such a long time since I made a craft just for fun. Usually, I talk myself out of doing this kind of thing, but to celebrate the holiday season and get in a festive mood, I decided to get out of my own way and make some cute Christmas ornaments. Oh, and what a joy it was!
It’s such a simple and fun craft that you can easily do with your little one, too.
Handle with care when painting and inserting string or you may risk breaking them. :(
All it takes to make these ornaments are cornstarch, baking soda, water, and that’s it! Bake them for a half an hour, paint, and then go crazy decorating them. Again, super easy.
There were some minor hiccups I had while painting but so long as you follow the directions, your ornaments should be alright. For example, make sure you roll the dough to a quarter-inch thickness and not any thicker. This helps your ornaments to harden completely when they bake. I, unfortunately, made the error of not rolling them out thin enough, and I had to throw half of them out because their centers never hardened. Luckily the recipe makes about 20+ ornaments, so I still had plenty to work with.
If you are feeling crafty, here’s how to make the cornstarch dough ornaments for you and your little ones:
Cornstarch Dough Ornaments
Materials
For Decorating:
Acrylic Paints
String ribbon and/or twine (for hanging)
Gloss Varnish
Scissors
Glitter (optional)
For Dough:
½ cup cornstarch
1 cup baking soda
¾ cup warm water
Rolling pin
Parchment paper
Cookie cutters
Directions
Preheat oven to 250F degrees.
In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, combine cornstarch, baking soda, and warm water. Stir the ingredients for a couple of minutes until dough starts to form.
When the dough has thickened enough, remove from stove and place it into a medium sized bowl. While the dough cools, cover it with a wet paper towel to prevent the dough from drying out.
Once cool, sprinkle your countertop or work area with cornstarch to help prevent the dough sticking to surface area. Using a rolling pin, roll dough until it has a thickness of ¼ inch, then use your cookie cutters to cut-out your ornament shapes.
Using a straw or another poking device (I used a baking thermometer), poke a hole at the top of your ornament. This will be where you add string to hang after you have decorated them.
Gently place your cut-out ornaments on parchment paper and place them on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes.
After baking, remove them from oven and place them on a flat surface to cool.
Once cooled, you can begin to paint and decorate them as you like saving the string to hang for last.
(Optional) for a glossy finish and to preserve your ornaments, spray with a high gloss varnish before inserting the string for hanging.
Overall, these ornaments were a joy to make. Not only did the experience calm my busy mind but also helped me get into the holiday spirit. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I almost made another batch! But I’ll save my enthusiasm for next time. Making Christmas ornaments may just be a new holiday tradition I’ll do to celebrate Christmas every year.