Salt Dough Decorations

Looking at our empty Christmas tree was getting a little depressing so Rachel and I mixed up some salt dough and spent the afternoon making decorations. I only made a half recipe and it was more than enough dough for our attention spans! We even mixed in a little food coloring--Rachel got really excited for that part. She always wanted the new color of dough to play with.

Mostly she just tore the dough into small pieces and threw it all over the floor, which made a huge mess, but she also enjoyed pushing the cookie cutters into the dough after I flattened it for her. For a while I think she thought we were making cookies, but then she tried the dough and decided it didn't taste too good. That didn't stop her from sampling every now and again. I thought her first taste would have scared her away, but I guess she just kept forgetting how gross salt dough is.


When we had finished with our decorations we put them in the oven to dry them out, then we tied string on them and hung them on our tree. It looks a whole lot more festive, especially since we now have a star on top. What good is a Christmas tree without a star on top?


We also made a little nativity set for Rachel to play with. I'm not sure how long it will last in her hands, but she's had fun with it so far. She calls Joseph "Dada," and Mary "Mama," and even said "Sheshush," which I can only guess means "Baby Jesus." They're a little crude, but I'm quite positive they're only going to last through one Christmas, anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter what they look like.