A Greener Christmas: Salt Dough Imprints

This past Christmas my husband and I decided we were going to do things a bit greener, and thus ultimately, less stressful. Every year we are bombarded with commercialism that says we have to buy buy buy stuff stuff stuff and truthfully, we are done with that. The flurry of frenzied shopping may be fun for some, but not this chick, that's for sure. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE to give gifts, and not just any gift, I love to spend time thinking about the person receiving the gift and putting energy and time into making it as personable as I can. This can still be done without spending insurmountable amounts of money and without the usual stress that accompany's the Christmas season.

This year was our little girl's first Christmas, so to commemorate it, we decided to make each set of grandparents a salt dough hand print ornament of L's hand. I had a friend and her little girl, who is just a few months older then L, come over and we did it together. It was cheap and meaningful and better then any generic purchase we could have made.

I found this idea from the blog homemadegrits and you can head over there to see how theirs turned out too!

Ingredients:

4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 1/2 cups water

Directions:

Combine ingredients and knead dough for 15 to 20 minutes.

Roll your dough out and cut circles out for the hand imprints. Slightly dampen pieces to make them stick together if necessary.

Make a small hole for the hanger. I used a straw and it worked great! It's also a good idea to prick your pieces, to prevent air bubbles.

Press your wee one's hands (or feet or whatever you want to imprint) into the dough. Be sure to press firmly to get a good print.

Feel free to write their names and/or date if you like :)

Bake at 300F about 20 to 25 minutes or until golden, depending on the thickness. Ours were quite thick, and thus we kept them in the oven for about an hour or so. Bake as long as needed. They may not feel hard right away but should harden as they cool.

Be sure to use a non stick surface to bake them on or spray your pan first.

And then you have a fun, easy, memorable gift for anyone! Once they are baked you can decorate them however you like, paint them or leave them as is. I spray painted ours with silver glitter spray paint. I don't have a finished picture, so you'll just have to trust me that they turned out great.

Till Next Time!