From Dough to Snow

Fun, festive crafts for kids to decorate, paint, and celebrate the season

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour

• ½ cup salt

• ¾ cup hot water

Preheat your oven to 225°F.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt by hand or in a mixer. Slowly add the warm water until a soft dough forms.

This is the kids’ favorite part. Let them knead the dough until it feels smooth and ready to roll out.

Once the dough feels good and workable, roll it out on a floured surface. Aim for an even thickness so all your ornaments bake evenly. About ¼ inch worked perfectly for us.

For creating shapes, you can use cookie cutters, handprints, or anything that feels special to your family. Everett is currently very into Nerf, so he made a Nerf bullet imprint. You can make absolutely anything your heart desires.

Once your shapes are made, use a toothpick or straw to create a small hole for the ribbon.

Now bake. Place the ornaments in the oven at 225°F for 2 hours. Check to make sure they are fully hardened. If they still feel soft, add another 20 minutes.

When they are finished baking and cooled, it is time for the best part: painting and decorating.

This is one of the kids’ favorite holiday activities. They have already done it twice this year, and I am writing this in November. It is always fun to look back at the ornaments from past years and see how their handprints, artwork, and creativity have grown.

These ornaments also make the sweetest handmade gifts. My kids are in a big gift-giving phase, and watching them create something special for someone they love is such a heartwarming thing to witness.

3D Paper Snowflakes

Materials

 • 8 paper bags

 • Hot glue

 • Scissors

 • String

 • Hole puncher (optional)

 • Paper (for simple snowflakes)

To make 3D snowflakes, glue together 8 paper bags. Add glue to the bottom of each bag (the folded end, not the opening) and then a line up the center. It should look like an upside-down T.

Now it is time to cut. I created a random, very imperfect pattern. You can absolutely find patterns online, but every snowflake is different, right?

For easier cutting, stack the bags and cut half at a time. You can also use a hole puncher for some of the shapes. Once you have finished cutting, it is time to open the snowflake. Grab the top layer and the bottom layer of the stack and pull them apart like an accordion.

Add a line of glue to the first and last bag to secure the snowflake open. Now add the string and hang!

While I made the 3D snowflakes, the kids made traditional snowflakes using a single square piece of paper.

If the kids want to make 3D snowflakes too, you can follow the same method but use glue sticks instead of hot glue. You will need to wait a bit longer for dry time this way!

Watch How We Made Them!