DIY Salt Dough Paw Print Ornament

I have been all about some Pinterest and DIY adventures lately.  My latest goal was to find an easy way to make an ornament with my dog’s name on it for her first Christmas.  I started searching Pinterest and found out about the fabulous world of Salt Dough (apparently I’ve been hiding under a rock for my whole life and have never heard of this amazingly easy stuff!).  I figured salt dough would be the cheapest and easiest way to make an ornament for my little Macy this year.

So lets rewind a second…my little Mace face is about 10 months old now.  Remember how little she used to be?  OMG she looked like a little teddy bear.  She’s gone from this…..

macy-copy

to a 50 lb full-blown-teenager-dog now!  I feel like such a mom saying this but “they grow so fast!“.

Anyways….back to my DIY Salt Dough Paw Print Ornament creation….here are the instructions on how to make an adorable and EASY paw print ornament out of ingredients you most likely already have in your kitchen.

Ingredients for salt dough:

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup salt
  • 1/2 cup tap water

That’s ALL you need to make this clay / dough at home. Simple, right?!?!  

I ended up using some acrylic paint, some small paint brushes that are good for acrylic paint and left over ribbon in this project as well.  I bought the $1 acrylic paints from Michaels  in purple, grey and silver glitter but you could really probably use any paint or ribbon you have laying around the house.

How to Make Salt Dough – Paw Print Ornaments

  1. In a large bowl mix salt and flour together.
  2. Gradually stir in the water. Mix well until it forms a doughy consistency.  If you find it’s too dry, add a little more water.  If it’s too wet, add a little more flour.
  3. Use your hands to mix up the dough until it feels like a cookie dough texture.
  4. Use a rolling pin or something similar to even out the salt dough (I literally used a cup and rolled it smooth onto my counter because I don’t have a roller)
  5. Use a cookie cutter or a cup (if you are lame like me and also don’t have a cookie cutter) to cut the salt dough into perfect circles.
  6. Transfer the salt dough onto a small plate and bring them to the floor in front of your pup.  Take their paw and push it into the salt dough so it makes an imprint into the salt dough.
  7. Place the salt dough creations into the oven on a foil lined baking sheet at 200 degrees F. The amount of time needed to bake depends on the size and thickness of the salt dough creations.  Mine were probably a little over 1/4″ thick so I left them in the oven for 3 hours and then zapped them in the microwave to finish them off for another 3 minutes total (in 20 second increments with pauses in between to make sure to not crack the salt dough).
  8. Let the salt dough sit out and cool for about 20 minutes and then paint!

I topped my salt dough ornaments off with some adorable ribbon and twine and threw it on the tree with pride.

I also used some white paint when the purple was dry to write her name on it with a small paint brush.

salt dough ornament dog paw print

The heart I made (in the middle) was made with extra salt dough I had left over.  I just cut a heart shape out with a knife and rolled up the leftover dough to form the  numbers 2016 year which I plan to make as an ornament for my boyfriend and I.

salt dough ornament dog paw print

I painted the grey on the paw print first and then the glitter after which seemed to work best.  When I did the glitter first it wasn’t as noticeable so I’d highly suggest doing a base color before adding glitter paint.

I would suggest using actual glitter if you really want the paw print to be sparkly. The glitter acrylic paint just didn’t have the glitter look like I wanted.  I wanted it to SPARKLE.  I may add some more later with everyone’s best friend … Mod Podge 🙂
salt dough ornament dog paw printAnd here’s the final product….

I think Macy approved (or she just really wanted to eat it).

salt dough ornament dog paw print

I absolutely LOVE how this ornament turned out and can’t wait to pull it out every year from my Christmas ornaments and smile to remember Macy’s first year of Christmas.  This was SO dang easy and SO cheap.  I’d highly recommend this DIY project to ANYONE who loves their dog!

salt-dough-ornament-paw-print-diy

Oh, I also plan to spray it with a varnish/sealer spray tomorrow after it’s fully dry to make sure it lasts as long as possible and never fades.

One last big tip for ya’ll – Keep these high on your tree because your fur baby may want to eat it with all the salt and flour it took to make these.  Do NOT let your dog eat these as they are NOT edible!!!

Leave a comment below to let me know what you think and how it worked for you!

salt dough ornament dog paw print homemade how to

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