Sponsored by: M&T Bank
Written by: Amelia Schrader
Senior Manager of Learning and Education
Materials:
Salt Dough
· 1 cup flour
· ½ cup salt
· ½ cup cold water
· Large mixing bowl
Unicorn
Cookie Cutter (or make your own)
Rolling Pin
Oven
Baking sheet
Colored markers or paint
Yarn
Drinking straw
Length:
Set up: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 2 – 2.5 hours
Decoration time: 10 minutes+
Academic Subject(s):
Math, Science, Art
Today, we are decorating salt dough unicorn ornament. It is national unicorn day and there isn’t a better way to celebrate than making your own unicorn!
Salt dough is a simple recipe with ingredients most of us have in our homes. This recipe can be used to make countless keepsakes including foot or hand-print memories, holiday ornaments or special decorations for your room!
Directions:
Step 1: Start by making your salt dough. You will want to measure each ingredient then mix the salt and flour together. Next, slowly add in the cold water until it is full incorporated. You will want to kneed the dough for about 5 minutes then let it rest about 10 minutes before Step 2.
Step 2: While your dough is resting, pre-heat your oven to 250 degrees. You can get your cookie cutters ready.
Now not everyone has cookie cutters so here are some ideas to create your own:
1. Cut out an outline of your desired design on a think piece of paper. You can then place this piece of paper on top of your rolled out salt dough and cut around the outline using a knife – even a playdough knife will work! I used this method for my cookie cutters as I am also out of aluminum foil!
2. Take a strip of aluminum foil and roll it into a thin strip. Then bend the strip into your desired shape, securing the ends together with tape.
Step 3: Once your dough has rested, roll out your dough on a lightly floured surface. The dough should be about ¼- ½ inch thick. You can now use your cookie cutters to cut out the shapes of your ornaments!
Step 4: Use the straw to put a small hole in the top of the ornament. This is where you will tie a string to hang your ornament later. If you do not want to hang your ornament you can skip this step – but remember you cannot go back and add the hole after the dough is dried out. For the unicorn ornament, I also put in several holes along the mane of the unicorn. This will be used later for decoration!
Step 5: Once your oven is preheated you are ready to bake! Place your cut out shapes onto a baking sheet. Place in over for about 2 hours. Actual drying time will depend on the thickness of your dough. You can also skip this step and allow the dough to air dry but this can take several days.
Step 6: Remove the salt dough shapes from the oven once dried and allow to cool completely.
Now it is time to decorate! For my unicorn, I used different colored pieces of string and tied them in the holes made in the mane in Step 4. I also used markers to decorate the eyes and horn of the unicorn! Let your imagination run wild!
You can follow these same steps to make any type of salt dough decoration! Easter is coming up this weekend and instead of a unicorn ornament you could make several Easter Egg ornaments. These could be a great alternative for those of you who did not get a chance to buy the plastic eggs for an egg hunt! Share your final creations on the Explore & More Facebook page!!
