We love making holiday ornaments and look forward to this tradition each year.
Cinnamon ornaments are our favorites, in large part because they make the entire house smell amazing! Today, we tried a new ornament clay recipe perfect for the season. Read on for the easy tutorial.
Rosie and Jewel had a lot of fun playing with this homemade gingerbread clay, and they couldn't wait to hang their creations from the tree! Are you ready for the recipe?
How to Make Gingerbread Clay
- 2 Cups of baking soda
- 1 Cup of corn starch
- 1& 1/2 cups of cold water
- 1 tbsp of cinnamon spice
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp clove spice
- Brown food coloring (optional)
Method
- Combine all ingredients in a large pot and stir continuously over medium-high heat.
- Continue to stir the ingredients until they reach a clay-like consistency. It does not take long.
- You will know the clay is ready when the ingredients reach a consistency similar to mashed potatoes.
- At this time transfer the clay to a heat-safe bowl and cover it with a moist towel until cool enough to knead.
- Once cool knead the clay with clean-dry hands, adding more food coloring & spices as desired.
- If the dough is at all sticky add a bit of corn starch and knead it in.
- After a bit of mixing and kneading you will have delightfully scented gingerbread clay!
Making Gingerbread Ornaments
- Use cookie cutters to make gingerbread men and other holiday ornaments from the dough.
- Place the ornaments onto a cookie sheet.
- Then, use a straw or similar to place a hole in them. This will make it easier to hang them from the tree.
- Place the ornaments into a preheated 200 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.
- Once ready carefully remove them from the oven and allow them to cool.
Decorating Your Ornaments
- Once the ornaments are dry kids can embellish them using paint and other craft supplies.
- You could also string them and hang them just as they are!
Either way this homemade clay makes way for quite beautiful creations!
Extend the Fun
- Make snow clay.
- Make salt dough keepsakes.
- Make gingerbread puffy paint.
- Make pumpkin play clay.
This gingerbread clay also makes a fantastic play dough for kids! We stored the left overs in a zip-seal bag so that Rosie and Jewel could make gingerbread men over and over again!
Note: For ornaments that are rich in color be sure to add brown food coloring during the cooking/mixing process.
