Do you have any family Christmas traditions?
One of the ingredients to a childhood well remembered is tradition. It contributes to a sense of comfort, belonging and helps bind families together. My little one is still a bit too small for most traditions but this year I have introduced salt dough. As a child, my Christmas's were centered around crafting and making yummy food which I am more than happy to carry on with my munchkin. She loves playing with regular play dough and painting so I knew that this activity would be a winner. She also loves puzzles and she spent at least 30mins just cutting out and matching the cutters with the shapes she had made. So, not only is this a fun festive family activity it's "educational", Ha!
One of the reasons I chose salt dough was the simplicity, there's no special hard to get ingredients and it only takes 5 mins to mix together! Also, unless you plan on using glitter to decorate, there's not a whole lot of mess either which is why she was allowed to cut them out on the living room floor instead of at the kitchen table.
I love being able to capture the little details whilst she is doing an activity like her little hands holding the cutters. I don't like to intrude too much, she's very used to having a camera pointed towards her and can become annoyed with me if I try to direct her. That's one of the reasons lifestyle photography is something I've jelled so well with. I knew that she would enjoy this activity, I knew the light in my living room was best in the early afternoon and I knew that if I just led her there with the activity, and let her do her thing, then I would be able to get some photographs to treasure.
It's a decoration AND a gift
I wanted to start a tradition that we could do together but I also don't need 20 Christmas ornaments every year for potentially the next 15 years so we have given some away as gifts from her. Grandparents especially love handmade gifts from little ones. Each year we will either give as gifts or they can be creative gift tags for Christmas presents and then we only need to keep one or two and I will slowly take away tree ornaments we have now and replace them with her creations. Why not try them yourself using the recipe below? it's a fab rainy day activity!
Recipe
Makes roughly 20-30 ornaments
250g Plain flour (plus some for dusting)
125g Table salt
125ml water
Baking paper
Baking tray
Biscuit cutters
Rolling pin
A chopstick or something similar to make a whole for the string to go through
To decorate
Poster paint
String or ribbon
Varnish (optional)
Method
- Measure out your flour and salt and pour into a mixing bowl.
- Measure out the water and pouring a little at a time mix into the flour and salt (I use a fork at this point as it's easier to mash everything together).
- Once it starts coming together get your hands in and bring the dough together into a ball.
- On a lightly floured work service knead the dough for around 10mins.
- Roll out onto lightly floured baking paper (it's much easier to peel the ornaments off of the baking paper than a work surface).
- Cut your shapes and place onto another piece of baking paper on a baking tray. Don't forget to make a hole for the string to go through.
- Bake at 150'c/Gas mark 2 for 2-3 hours(depending on the thickness of your ornaments) turn half way through baking or leave to dry in a warm area out of direct sunlight for a few days.
- Decorate
Remember to warn little ones that these are not for eating!
Decorating
If you would like to leave them plain, while they are still malleable, imprint beads or sprigs of thyme into them to create a pattern. We used every day poster paint which my munchkin splodged on quite happily. She especially enjoyed painting the ornaments with two string wholes in them which she called boobies ha!. We also had lots fun with PVA glue and glitter because what's life without a bit of sparkle?! You can decorate them however you like though, the possibilities are endless. If you are only planning to use paint the next optional step would be to varnish them to keep the paint colours looking bright and seal them which helps with longevity. You can get varnish from hobby craft or delivered from most craft stores. Happy crafting and Merry Christmas!
About the Author
Hi there! My name is Estella Ward, Owner of Entwined Photography. It's my mission to capture heartfelt joy and connection. I have always been drawn to photography that draws emotion and captures the spirit of the moment that you can almost hear the laughter in the photo.
I see such beauty in all the fleeting moments of time and I've carried that perspective with me into my adult life, especially since becoming a mother. Entwined Photography is a Family, Newborn and Maternity lifestyle photographer based in Havant, Hampshire and serves areas in and around Havant, Hayling Island, Portsmouth, Waterlooville, Fareham, Rowlands Castle and Chichester.
