My daughter made beautiful ornaments for her tree last year. White ornaments with pressed greenery designs that looked so pretty. Let’s try making some DIY Cornstarch Dough Ornaments for Christmas for your tree too!
Perhaps you need a creative activity to help spread the holiday spirit with the grands. Or perhaps you just need to relax after lots of Christmas preparation. Either way you will love making these simple and lovely decorations.
Get ready for some fun!
Watch how to make these DIY ornaments!
How to make cornstarch dough ornaments
Mix the dry ingredients (cornstarch and baking soda) in a 2-Quart Saucepan and then add in the water. You can add in some fragrance if you would like, like an essential oil of choice, maybe peppermint?
Put the mixture in the pan on the stove and set it on medium heat. Stir while the mixture thickens.
Cook about 3-4 minutes until it becomes a playdough or mashed potatoes consistency. This is like the WTN home-made playdough recipe in the way it thickens.
Let the mixture cool by sitting for a while until you can handle it in your hands. Put a moist towel over the top of the pan to keep it from drying out while it cools.
Knead, roll and cut out the dough ornaments
Use a little bit of cornstarch if needed to knead the dough a little. It should be soft and smooth, pliable like play dough but not sticky. This can be done on a board or just in your hands if you want.
Roll the dough out to about ¼ inch thick with a rolling pin. You may need a bit of cornstarch on the board for this as well. Don’t use too much though or the dough will get too dry.
Cut ornaments out with Cookie Cutters dipped in cornstarch. Round, star, and tree shaped cookie cutters work well. Place the cut outs on a Cookie Sheet with Parchment Paper on it.
How to make designs on cornstarch dough ornaments
Choose some items to use to press onto your ornaments. Greenery from the tree and bushes around your home are what we used.
Press the greenery into the face of the ornament. A nice natural touch, don't you think?
Other things work well to press into the ornament, anything that creates a pattern. You can use lace or a doily, comb to make lines, other cooking utensils with a pattern, stamps, etc. Have fun!!
Another design idea
If you have really small cookie cutters you can cut out shapes/holes in the center of the ornaments as well. So, you would have a small cut out or series of cut outs inside the cookie shape. This would be a fun way to get a variety of ornaments.
Finishing touches
Use a drinking Straws (or chopstick) to punch a hole in the top of each ornament, about ¼ inch from the edge.
Bake the ornaments at 175 degrees for 40 minutes, then turn them and bake for 30-40 more minutes. Leave out to air dry further if needed. Just don’t let them brown.
I prefer them to be plain white, but if you have a gold pen or paint you can write a word like “JOY” or a name on the front of an ornament if you want. They would make cute gift tags this way.
Tie Ribbon through the hole in the ornament and hang them up on your tree.
Aren’t they lovely?
Supplies for DIY Cornstarch Dough Ornaments for Christmas
- cornstarch
- baking soda
- Fragrance (optional)
- 2-Quart Saucepan
- Cookie Sheet
- Cookie Cutters
- Parchment Paper
- Drinking Straws
- Natural greenery
- Ribbon to hang the ornaments
More Christmas Craft Ideas for Kids!
If you are looking for more fun holiday ornaments to make with the kids, check out these additional ideas!
Easy Glass Pebble Christmas Ornaments
Salt Dough Christmas Ornaments
And while you are having a blast with your ornament-making-party, why not mix up some Simple Homemade Hot Chocolate with some Marvelous Homemade Peppermint Marshmallows, and color this Free December Christmas Ornament coloring page?
ENJOY!
If you try this craft, let me know! Go ahead and leave a comment, rate it, and tag a photo with #WelcometoNanas wherever you post.
Cornstarch Ornament Dough Recipe
DIY Cornstarch Dough Ornaments for Christmas
Equipment
- Saucepan
- Cookie Sheet
- Cookie cutters
- Drinking straw
- Parchment paper
- Ribbon
Items Required
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 1 cup baking soda
- ¾ cup water
- Fragrance- like essential oil
Instructions
- Mix the dry ingredients and then add in the water.
- Add fragrance if desired.
- Cook on medium heat, stirring until thickened like playdough.
- Let cook and then knead until soft and smooth.
- Roll the dough out to about ¼ inch thick.
- Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes for ornaments.
- Press fresh greenery or other decorative items into the face of the ornaments.
- Use a drinking straw to punch a hole in the top of each ornament.
- Back at 175 degrees for 40 minutes, turn and bake for 30-40 min. Don't let the ornaments brown. Continue to air dry if needed.
- Tie a ribbon through the hole. Hang on tree!!
Shary says
Does turn them mean flip them or turn the pan?
Joan says
We tried this recipe to make handprint ornaments with our baby twins and some greenery prints with our older kiddo. It is probably the coldest day of the year here at -40 and the dough dried out very quickly and cracked before baking. For our next attempt, we wrapped the dough in a damp paper towel and squeezed some extra moisture into it before rolling it out. This worked much better and made for smoother ornaments. Worth the effort and trial and error. We plan to seal them and hope they will be preserved as lovely mementos.