Salt dough decorations

We decided to try and make some festive candle holders out of salt dough this for our Christmas table this year. We used a simple, flattened, ball shape, making a hole for the candle and then decorated with cut outs using cookie and icing cutters.

And painted them.

I also wanted to make a non-edible gingerbread man wreath basket. The idea came from the gingerbread man wreath on the Martha Stewart website. I've made a couple of these before, out of salt dough, and hung them by the window. As the condensation from the window dampened the wreath over time, it warped so that the gingerbread men looked like they were dancing. But alas, they eventually break and have to be thrown away.

We've always really enjoyed the wreaths so I put it on my list of 101 things to encourage me to make another - which I haven't done this year, I think I'll do it next Christmas.

When the wreaths warped badly, it made me think of trying out making a basket shape, using the same method, but I'd been putting it off - expecting the dough to just collapse down to the baking tray once it got hot! I put the basket idea on my list of 101 things anyway, just to try it out.

I gave it a go yesterday, keeping my expectations low. I didn't put much effort into it because I honestly didn't expect it to work!


I covered an upside down pyrex dish in tin foil, and made a base with dough, adding the gingerbread man shapes using a little water to secure them.

As I pulled it out of the oven and saw that it had worked, I kicked myself for not having tried harder to pay attention to detail!

Now that I know the method works, I'd love to have a go at making an edible bread basket this way.

Here's the salt dough recipe we use:

1 cup salt

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon cooking oil

1 cup water

Mix the flour and salt together. Add the oil and water and knead into a dough.

Couldn't be simpler! Baking times vary greatly depending on the shape of what you have made. As a general rule, it needs to be a low oven for a long time (45 mins plus) so that it dries well throughout.

The dough can be made up to a week in advance and stored in the fridge.

Using coarse salt gives the dough items a more rustic appearance.

It's best to use water-based paint/varnish so that it doesn't form a seal, or if you do use something that would seal it, don't cover it completely - if it seals it can lead to mould forming.

Salt dough is fantastic and very versatile. As a child I loved to make play food with it to have tea parties with my toys and open a play cafe. When Cameron was younger we made Doctor Who figures with it.

It's also a great activity for cold days because you need the oven on for so long - it warms the house up!

After I wrote this post I saw these, which made me feel totally inadequate in my use of salt dough! Aren't they pretty?!