Salt Dough Hearts Ornaments for Valentine’s Day

Salt dough heart Valentine’s Day ornaments are the perfect craft to make with the kids that you can also give as gifts or use as Valentine’s Day decorations year after year. This easy salt dough hearts recipe is kid friendly, and made with 3 simple ingredients you most likely already have in the pantry. The kids will love making this salt dough craft and then showing off any salt dough creation they make.

Salt Dough Hearts Ornaments for Valentine’s Day

Can you believe we are almost to Valentine’s Day already? I feel like we just got done with Christmas and that clean up and now it is time to have fun for Valentine’s Day. I have spent the last year creating all sorts of salt dough craft ideas for kids because my kids all love making them. Every time we make this simple craft for a holiday they tell me it is so much fun and want to make them again.

This homemade salt dough recipe has only 3 ingredients, salt, water, and flour. You can use them as Valentine’s Day decor and hang them around the house or hang the salt dough heart ornaments on a valentine’s day tree.

While I like making these for Valentine’s Day they are also a great Mother’s Day gift.

What is Salt Dough?

Salt dough is a modeling material that is made with flour, water, and salt that is slow-baked in the oven to harden. Once hardened can be decorated with paint. There are many uses for salt dough including making handprints, sculptures, and ornaments. Once baked to dry thoroughly salt dough is hard and will last for years.

Salt Dough Ornaments to make with kids

• Salt dough handprint ornaments
• Salt dough Christmas Ornaments
• Salt Dough Easter Eggs
• Salt Dough Santa Ornaments

How to Cut heart shapes out of Salt Dough

After making the salt dough, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick. Then you can use any heart shaped cookie cutter that you want to, you can use solid heart cookie cutters to make conversation candy hearts ornaments, or open heart shaped cookie cutters. You can use large heart cookie cutters and make large hearts or small ones.

Can I make this a handprint Heart?

Yes! you can make these into handprint ornaments in heart shapes by having your child press their hand into the center of the dough after cutting out the heart shape.

What is the Best Paint for decorating Salt Dough Ornaments?

You can use any paint including spray paint, acrylic paint, tempera paint or washable paint to decorate the ornaments. Paint pens are great if you are wanting to have less mess, but I prefer setting up a plate with different colored paints so the kids can decorate the ornaments however they want to. To protect the paint after it has dried I like to put on a clear coat sealer.

How to Store Salt Dough Ornaments

After making the ornaments and then having them out as decorations if you are like me you will want to keep them for years. Wrap the ornaments in bubble wrap and store in a box where they will not be exposed to moisture or be bumped around the box.

Tips for Making Salt Dough

• Mix ingredients thoroughly. When you are mixing the flour, water and salt to form the dough make sure everything is mixed well.
• Use a floured surface. So the salt dough doesn’t stick to your work space add a little flour before rolling out the dough.
• Even thickness of the dough. You want the thickness of your ornaments to be the same thickness when you make them so they all dry out evenly when in the oven. You will know they are done when they are hard to the touch without any give when pressed on. If the ornaments are thicker they may need a longer time in the oven.
• Dry fully. Allow the salt dough to dry out thoroughly (baked in the oven) before you paint them. It is very important to dry salt dough ornaments fully before painting them.
• Dry paint fully. Allow the paint to dry completely before putting on a protective spray coating or packaging them up in a storage box.
• Use twine or ribbon for making them into ornaments. You can also use ornament hooks to hang these DIY ornaments on your tree.
• Poke the hole in the top of the ornaments before baking if you are wanting them to an ornament where you can put a ribbon or twine thru the top hole.

How to make Salt Dough Ornaments last longer?

To make the ornaments last longer by spraying them with a polyurethane spray or a coat of mod podge after they are done drying from being painted. Normally I spray ours the next day after painting them.

Salt Dough Hearts Ornaments for Valentine’s Day Supplies

• 4 cups Flour
• 1 cup Salt
• 1 ½ cups Water
• Bowl
• Measuring Cups
• Rolling Pin
• Straw
• Baking Sheet
• Parchment Paper
• Oven
• Heart Cookie Cutter

How to Make Salt Dough Hearts Ornaments for Valentine’s Day

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees and line the baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, and water stirring until the flour mixture becomes like a thick dough.`

Remove the dough onto the counter top and knead with your hands until it’s consistent.

Roll the dough to a consistent thickness, no thicker than ¼-inch.

With the cookie cutters, cut out heart shapes, leaving the cookie cutters in place, preferably.

Use the straw to poke a hole into each of the cookie cutter shapes, about ½-inch from the edge, preferably.

Remove the portions of dough that are not the desired cookie cutter shapes.

Remove the cookie cutters.

Gently, using the spatula, transfer the cookie shapes from the table to the prepared cookie sheet.

Place the baking sheet into the oven for 2 ½ hours.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow them to cool completely.

Paint the ornaments as desired and allow them to dry completely.

Paint the salt dough ornaments however you want to, you can make salt dough conversation hearts by adding words to the hearts in paint.

Thread a piece of ribbon through the hole at the top of the heart.

Valentine’s Day crafts for kids

• Valentine’s Day Bingo Game Printable
• Valentine’s Day Color by number
• Valentine’s Day Popsicle stick love bug
• Valentine’s Day Floam Slime
• Borax Crystal Hearts