This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy.
One of our traditions every year include making handprint and footprint salt dough ornaments. Each ornament can have it’s own story and the kids love asking questions about each and every one. They also make the perfect keepsake for those little hands and feet. We’ve done everything from footprint Olaf’s to Minions, this year with my daughters Troll obsession we decided to to make Poppy ornaments and I absolutely LOVE how adorable it turned out! You can pick your favorite troll to switch it up a bit, add some silver glitter to make Guy Diamond or blue paint to make a Branch ornament.
How To Make A Handprint Troll Salt Dough Ornament
Before you get started here are some important supplies you’ll want to have on handy when you make your ornaments aside from the flour, salt and water for the dough, you’ll want to make sure you have festive holiday ribbon, paints, rolling pins, and most importantly an all purpose sealant like the one we use below!
Supplies Needed:
- 1 Cup of salt
- 2 Cups of flour
- 1 Cup of water
- Acrylic Paint
- Mod Podge
- Paint Brushes
- Ribbon
- Felt
- Googly Eyes
Directions:
First you’ll combine your salt and flour in a bowl and slowly add in the water. Continue until it is dough light and not too sticky. If the dough is too dry you can add more water. After kneading the dough you’ll flatten it out with a rolling pin. The kids love helping with this part!
Next have your child place their hand in the dough. Next you can trace around their handprint leaving a little border around the print so that you have enough room to poke a hole for your ribbon. Poke a hole through the top using a straw so that you can hang them when your done and bake these for two to three hours at around 100 degrees C/ 200 F. If your ornament is thick you may need to turn it over while it’s cooking.
When your ornaments are done cooking, let them cool for a few hours before painting. When you start painting you’ll want to paint half of the handprint light pink and the top a darker pink. You can make the border any color you’d like.
For the next step you could paint on the headband, ears and nose but I thought felt looked cute so I cut out the pieces from the felt and hot glued them onto the ornament.
After you have your felt glued on you can add on googley eyes and take some black paint or a black permanent marker and draw on a mouth and eyelashes. You can sign the name and date on the back, then hang them on the tree with some colorful ribbon!
Make sure to follow I Heart Arts n Crafts on Facebook and Pinterest! And if you decide to make any of our crafts, please share them on our Facebook page or use #iheartartsncrafts on Instagram for us to see!