Homemade Salt Dough Ornaments

I was inspired to make these ornaments because of Berkley. Who is Berkley? He is the sweetest little guy I call my grandson :) Berkley was born with bi-lateral club feet. I knew nothing about this before he was born with it. His little feet turned inward, almost "horseshoe" shaped. I have recently learned of some famous people born with club feet, such as- Troy Aikman, Dudley Moore, Damon Wayons, Kristi Yamaguchi, just to name a few.
We are thankful for Peyton Manning's Children Hospital where he received his corrective casts. They had to be changed often as children grow so rapidly. Because his mommy and daddy felt it was important to do this very soon after his birth, and several casts later..his little feet are perfect! Thank God and the knowledge of today's medicine. He just turned 1 year old and is walking everywhere! When I saw the recipe for these ornaments, I thought it would be a wonderful way to capture his sweet little feet (and hands).


Here is what you will need:
4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 1/2 cups water
Drinking straw or Toothpick (for making a hole to hang ornament)
and some little helpers
(I added a little coffee to mine to give them a little color)

1. Combine all ingredients and knead dough for 15-20 minutes.
2. Roll dough out and cut out shapes with cookie cutters or in my case I used a glass because I wanted a larger circle.
3. Use a straw or toothpick to create holes for hanging the ornaments.
4. Bake at 300 degrees until golden. You may need to bake considerably longer depending how thick your ornaments are. If they aren't completely dry when golden, they will eventually harden if you let them sit.

I used a clear sealer once they were dry to preserve them

Homemade Christmas Ornaments

Once again I'm late posting! I really need to get more organized! We had some cancelled flights and crap happen turn-of-events happen the week before Christmas so it was a scramble to get everything accomplished on time..whew!
I know these ornaments are found all over the internet. You can find various recipes to make them. It has been a few years since I had made these..and forgot how easy and fun they were to make.

Ingredients:
Cinnamon
Applesauce
Craft Glue
Cookie Cutters (or cut by hand if you like)
Ribbon
Toothpick
**Mix equal amounts of applesauce and cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of craft glue for every cup of applesauce. If you find the mixture is too wet, simply add more cinnamon. I added nutmeg and ground cloves to the mixture but this is optional. Mix all ingredients until you have a firm dough but wet dough. Roll out your dough to at least 1/4" thickness (less than this will make your ornaments a little weak and will break easily), cut shapes with cookie cutters. With a toothpick, poke a hole at the top of each ornament that is large enough for ribbon to be pulled through. Place ornaments on tray or cooling rack to dry completely. Mine took a couple of days. Once dry, you can easily remove any rough edges with fine sandpaper.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Beth :)

Hot Cocoa Station

Hot Cocoa anyone?

Here in Indiana we are having some pretty chilly days! We are making great use of this little hot cocoa station that sits on our bar, complete with mint-chocolate marshmallows (they taste like Andes mints..mmmm). Those little sticks in the mug with the spoons are the best! Those are chocolate covered peppermint sticks(made by Bogdon candy company)..they are great for stirring coffee or cocoa, they give it a slight peppermint, chocolate flavor that is not overwhelming at all. These make a great stocking stuffer or put them in a mug, attach a ribbon and you have a sweet little gift for a teacher.

I have several homemade ornaments I want to share with you in the next few days! Hope you are all enjoying your December..Christmas is arriving way to fast for me to accomplish everything as usual!

Beth