DIY Christmas Ornaments with Cornstarch and Baking Soda

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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

  1. Preheat oven to 250F degrees.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. Gently place your cut-out ornaments on parchment paper and place them on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes.

  7. After baking, remove them from oven and place them on a flat surface to cool.

  8. Once cooled, you can begin to paint and decorate them as you like saving the string to hang for last.

  9. (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.