I love love love this DIY. Can you say that about something you’ve made? Of course you can! These little clay ornaments are so simple and look so elegant strung up as a garland. Best part is that you don’t even need to buy the clay, because we’ll be making that too! Into the kitchen we go!

This basic recipe will make a beautiful, stark white clay. I made several batches like this, and made them into ornaments which hang on a fallen branch I picked up from the park. My daughter says it looks like a Christmas tree! Very soon though, I started thinking about mixing in herbs and spices to add color and scent to my little clay discs. Like my homemade playdough recipe, I cook up a big batch of white dough first, that way I can divide it up to make different “flavors” But, if you only want to make a whole say, cinnamon batch, then you can include the cinnamon as you’re cooking… does that make sense or confuse things more? Let’s keep going…

After you cook the dough, take it out of the pan and drape a towel over it to keep it from drying out. Give it a good knead, but allow it to cool to touch first, so that you don’t sear off your fingers, then give it good knead. You can then add colors, spices, essential oil, make imprints or leave it pure and white.  I cut out circle shapes, but you can use cookie cutters to cut out any shape. Best thing to do is to just start a batch -and your creativity will start flowing, I promise! Then, you can proudly hang up your Christmas garland and smile every time you look up at it.

  Home Made Christmas Decorations

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup baking soda
  • 1/2 cup corn starch
  • 3/4 cups water

directions:

  1. Combine the ingredients in a pan over a medium fire.
  2. Stir until the mixtures becomes thick, like mashed potatoes
  3. Remove from the pan and allow to cool with a towel covering it so that it will not dry out
  4. Knead the dough for a good minute or two
  5. Roll out the dough flat to about 1 cm thick
  6. Use your shape cutters to create your shapes
  7. Punch out little holes for hanging with a straw
  8. Bake at 80 degrees C. for about 40 minutes, flipping over a few times.

4 responses to “Homemade Christmas Decorations – Baking Soda Clay Ornaments”

  1. Question – do these get rock-hard, or stay porous? I’m looking for a DIY clay that you can add essential oils to periodically to freshen them up.

  2. I made them, and they cracked while baking. 🙁 Disappointed but not dissuaded – I’ll try again. Wondering if maybe I threw the ratio off, or if the oil I added changes the consistency too much? They smell A-MAZ-ING though!

    • Hi Kay! I was so inspired by your idea that I’ve shared it on the blog 🙂 Not sure why it cracked – could be a million reasons, but try adding the essential oils to the clay after it’s been baked and dried fully. Hope that helps! 🙂

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