DIY Salt Dough Spring Garland

Hey y’all! It’s a rainy day here in PA, perfect to finish up our latest craft project!
We are putting the finishing touches (paint and twine) on our DIY Salt Dough Spring Garland, and I can’t wait to hang it up! I love this project because it is simple, but still includes so much learning and fun! Not to mention, it’s cheap and you probably already have everything you need at home! Recipe and directions below!
Materials:
Salt
Water
Measuring cups (1/2 c and 1 c)
Flour
Cookie cutters of your choice
Rolling pin
Straw or something similar for making holes
Parchment paper
Baking sheet
Paint (we used washable non-toxic paint, because, toddler)
Paintbrushes
String or twine
Step 1:
Make your salt dough & pre-heat your oven to 250 degrees
Salt Dough Recipe:
½ cup salt
½ cup water
1 cup flour
Knead dough; add flour if still sticky
Step 2:
Roll out your dough and cut using your choice of cookie cutters (we used butterflies, a lamb, frog, turtle, rabbit, and duck). Using a straw or something similar, poke one hole in each cutout to make an ornament, or two holes in each cutout to make garland. If making garland poke your holes so that the twine or string goes across your cutout in an area that it will not look weird and will hold evenly (in other words, be strategic!). See pictures below.
*You can roll your dough very thin. I have a tendency to make my dough too thick and then it needs to bake FOR-EV-ER!
Step 3:
Place your cutouts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 2 hours OR until your cutouts are hard and do not appear wet (on the bottom). I had to bake mine multiple times for a total of 3 hours, but I also made mine pretty thick.
Step 4:
Let cutouts cool and then paint!
*We did this as a two day project. Day 1 was the dough and cutouts, day 2 was painting.
Step 5:
Let dry and then string them up using twine or string!
Enjoy!
XOXO,
Nik