Christmas in September - Corn starch and Baking Soda Ornaments

I have tried salt dough with my kids in the past and although they loved it, I never loved the end result. It seemed to take forever for the dough to dry in the oven, microwave and/or on the counter and I found the color was never really nice. 

I have longed for a pure white ornament that could be used as gift tags. So when I found this recipe online (I got the final version I used on cooks.com) I was really excited. 

I was excited that I had all the ingredients on hand (who doesn't have corn starch and baking soda in their pantry?) and I love that this recipe produced a beautiful pure white dough that seems to have a shimmer. I am not sure which ingredient does it, but when the uncooked dough is in the light it sparkles. I will try this recipe again and add some white glitter to see how it works..I will let you know how that goes.

I tested out two different ways of hardening this recipe, air dry overnight and baking. I have to say I far preferred the results of the air dry. I liked the the kids could have the ornaments within 30 minutes with the baking, but the final result was a a little yellow and the shimmer was lost. So I highly recommend being prepared for an overnight dry time if you want amazing results.

The candy cane was air dried and the bell was baked. It is hard to see, but the candy cane is much whiter.  A funny thing is, I didn't notice until now that we put the hole on the wrong side of the candy cane..so when I went to hang it on the tree to photograph it was a 'J'.

Full batch recipe:

• 2 cups baking soda
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/4 cups cool water

I only did 1/4 of this recipe as a test to see how it worked. I had intended to make another batch with fancy ornaments and gift tags to post it here on Full of Great Ideas, but I absolutely loved this craft and wanted to share it with you right away. You never know, some of you might be bored on a Sunday afternoon and wanted to do something with your kids.

Method:

Mix cornstarch and baking soda in a pot.

Add water to the powder mixture. It will seem like the water sits on top, but after a little stirring in mixes all together into a runny mix.

Place the pot on a stove over medium heat. 

Be sure to stir the mixture constantly.

Once it thickens (you will know when it is done..it becomes a ball), turn into a bowl.

Cover with a damp paper towel and let cool. 

This is an important step. Don't be impatient like me and try to kneed it with your hands when it is piping hot! I try to teach my children to wait and be patient, but I can't seem to follow my own advice. If you are like me and decide to burn your hands, add one extra step...run hands under cold water and try to refrain from cursing because your children are watching and waiting to the dough to be done. :)

Knead the cooled mixture until smooth. It is amazing at how nice and smooth the dough becomes. I have never used the Magic Dough from Crayola (too cheap) but this is what I envision it to be like.

Roll out the dough to approximately 1/4 inch thick on a flat surface. If you find the mixture to be a little sticky, add a little cornstarch either on the counter on kneed it into the mixture.

Cut out desired shape with cookie cutters.

I had a few cookie press from when I was younger that the kids wanted to try and to be honest with you they are my favorites!

We used a drinking straw to make the hole a the top of each of the ornaments.

My son decided he was going to decorate a snowman with a straw and a butter knife. It is cute and he is quite proud of his work.

When I left the ornaments out to air dry, they dried nicely overnight. I did flip them over before I went to bed to ensure both sides dried evenly. This produced the nicest ornaments! They remained pure white and still have the shimmer to them.

 

But if you want to bake them, be prepared, they will slightly brown a bit in the process (especially the back). If you plan to paint the ornament, this is a great option for you. I was hoping to make pure white ornaments, so the air dry method was my favorite.

To bake them, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place ornaments on parchment lined baking sheet and bake for approximately 30 minutes.  Be sure to watch closely for the last 10-15 minutes to prevent over browning. 

Here is the back of one of the ornaments I baked. See how the back of the ornament is a light brown?

You can seal any unused dough in plastic bag and keep it in the refrigerator until needed. I am not sure how long it will last, so I recommend only making enough for you to use within a few days.

The possibilities are endless for this craft! My kids have always loved making things out of dough, but we have never found a reasonably priced dough that air dries. You can add food coloring along with the water to color the dough and like I said, I think some glitter for Christmas ornaments would be amazing!

My kids have always made ornaments for family members but this year I think the ornaments will double as the labels. Have any of you ever make reusable Christmas gift labels? This will be my first year, but I am excited especially for family members who are just starting out and don't have many ornaments.

Have any of you used this recipe before? What have your results been? 

Anyone else getting ready for Christmas already? What are you working on?

Have a great Sunday!

Stephanie