Check out these 15 awesome DIY projects that are easy to make and even come with tutorials for how the salt dough itself is made!
1. Cookie cutter snow flakes
Working with salt dough is a lot of fun because it starts out malleable, meaning you can mould it into just about anything and cut it into shapes very easily. At the same time, it dries solidly if you leave it sitting out in the open over night, making it perfect for moulding decorative ornaments. We love the way Grubby Little Faces used cookies cutters to make snowflake shaped ornaments, treating the salt dough just like cookie dough.
2. Salt dough hand prints
One of the best things about working with salt dough is how many different kinds of crafts you can make with it and how many different techniques you can use. If you’re not really into the idea of cutting shapes out, maybe you’d prefer impressing an image into the dough instead? Pinstake suggests creating a salt dough handprint that will preserve the size of your kids’ hands just the way they are right now before they grow up.
3. Salt dough fossils
Have you ever seen fossil rocks and observed how awesome the shape of a prehistoric plant or dinosaur bone looks impressed into the surface of a rock after years of decompression underground? When we first showed our kids what fossils looked like, they were obsessed for months after. That’s why we showed them how to make their own fossils from salt dough! Adventures At Home With Mum shows you how to make different shapes that look just like the real thing.
4. Salt dough heart necklace
When you work with crafting tools that let you create from the very beginning, do you prefer moulding your own shapes so you can really make the piece custom and the way you want it? Then salt dough is the perfect medium for you! Check out how Lady With the Red Rocker made these adorable little heart pendants and painted them to really catch people’s eye.
5. Salt dough footprints
Did you like the idea of doing a kids’ handprint but you think you might save that for when your kids are a little bit older and can have fun helping you out? Well, you can still have fun documenting them with salt dough when they’re little! Follow Things for Boys‘ lead and make a little footprint plaque instead. We love the way they stamped the name and date on each side too!
6. Sparkly salt dough candleholders
We’ve talked a little bit about moulding with salt dough, but did you know that you can actually build things with a little bit more structured, like you would with plasticine or clay? That’s why we loved this candle holder idea from Nurture Store. Well… that and the fact that they smothered the top of the holder in glitter, which is always a hit with us!
7. Salt dough leaf imprinting
Did you love the idea of imprinted leaves back when we talked about the salt dough fossils, but you’d rather immortalize the beauty of actual greenery from your garden? Well, that’s a lot simpler than you might think! Kids’ Activities Blog shows you how they made impressions that can be turned into all kinds of things, like magnets or hanging ornaments.
8. Painted salt dough snowmen
If you’re excited about the idea of actually moulding and building things from salt dough, then we have a feeling you’ll be pretty pumped when you hear that you can take the process even further! Check out how Dollar Store Crafts not only built little decorative snowmen, but also painted them with cute little faces and buttons.
9. Bright salt dough sugar skulls
Are you looking for a project that you can do with friends on a girls’ night in style crafting session? Then you’ll want to choose something with lots of colour, fun detail, and the potential for customization so that you can all really make your own unique! Red Ted Art suggests making these cute little decorative sugar skulls that you can carve your own shapes and lines into and paint them however you please.
10. Stamped salt dough ornaments
If you’re the kind of DIY enthusiast who dabbles in many different things, you probably have a whole arsenal of stamps and things that can easily impress pretty detailed pictures into soft textures. These stunning silhouetted salt dough stamps from Branch Habitat would look nice hung on a ribbon from a mantle or in the window.
11. Fun textured salt dough
Do you love the idea of impressing shapes into your salt dough and creating all kinds of visuals and textures but you’d rather make it a craft that your kids will have fun with too? Check out how Art Club used all kinds of tools to create these fun shapes and textures, as well as how they coloured each trinket! Turn them into fridge magnets of Easter tree décor.
12. Salt dough image transfer
If you’ve ever done image transfer onto rocks or wood, then you already know just how fun the whole process and technique is. Did you know, though, that you can transfer images onto shapes that you’ve actually created yourself from scratch? That’s where salt dough comes in! Check this whole idea out on Pinterest.
13. Stamped quote ornaments
When we showed you the little footprint plaque idea, were you distracted from the footprint part by how cute the little stamped letters on the sides where the creator stamped their baby’s name and birthday? Well, nothing will stop you from using just that technique to create some cute ornaments! Check out how DIY Real stamped cute quotes into their dough!
14. Salt dough starfish
Have you always loved the look of seashells and starfish as décor but it kind of creeps you out to think about having an actual dried starfish sitting on your mantle since so many of the ones sold in stores are real? Then try making yourself a faux starfish out of salt dough instead! See how it’s done on Dollar Store Mom.
15. Silver salt dough pendant
Have you always admired silver jewelry pendants with shapes and images pressed into them but you don’t know how to work with or mould silver or metal? Lady With the Red Rocker is here to show you how salt dough can be the next best thing! Press and mould your pattern, let is dry, paint it silver, and voila! A stunning pendant.
