Ditch the store-bought decorations and make these cute Santa Claus ornaments with only three ingredients and your child’s hand to use as a template. You can customize the look with paint and ribbon. Turn this into a crafty afternoon with a group of friends and their kids.

@alittlewildfarm

How to Make Salt Dough for Ornaments

Ingredients:

4 Cups of All-Purpose Flour1 Cup of Salt1 1/2 Cups of Warm Water

Directions: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt. Slowly add in water. When the mixture becomes hard to stir with your wooden spoon, knead the dough by hand until smooth. Check out the full process on Messy Little Monster instagram.

How to Make the Santa Claus Handprint Salt Dough Ornaments

Preheat your oven to 300°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay a separate piece of parchment paper on your counter and use a rolling pin to roll out your dough until it’s ⅛ inches thick.

Have your child gently press their hands into the dough. Then, poke a hole in the top center or the ornament with a stainless steel straw. Use a butter knife to cut along the shape of the handprint. Transfer the handprint to your parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat until your baking sheet is full.

@torisprankel

Cook the salt dough in your preheated oven for about an hour. After an hour, check the ornaments — if they’re hard, they are done. If the ornaments are still squishy in spots, cook them a little longer.

Allow the ornaments to cool, then decorate with glitter and acrylic paint. Use standard red and white or create whimsical Santa Claus ornaments in various colors and patterns. To make the ornaments last longer, you can seal them with Modge Podge or Polycrylic.

Ideas for Santa Claus Handprints

Salt dough ornaments look great on the Christmas tree but have other practical applications. For example, you can use handmade ornaments as custom gift tags. Adding them to each grandparent’s gift makes your package look cute and offers a special keepsake. You can also create garlands from your salt dough ornaments and add them to your mantel or above the kitchen sink.