I love our Christmas ornament collection. It’s very eclectic and includes a lot of child-made ornaments. There are decorations made by both our girls at different ages and stages, and two were even made by me as a child! Each ornament is accompanied by a story of when and where it was made, adding a special layer of family history to our annual celebration.
Both of my girls love the story of The Nutcracker ballet, especially the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy! The Sugar Plum Fairy is the leader of the Land of Sweets, an imaginary land clearly designed to enchant child sized lovers of the ballet. She is also the inspiration for this simple toddler Christmas ornament craft – making sparkling sugar plums.
These sweet, sparkling sugar plum ornaments can be made using our homemade air dry clay recipe or the salt dough recipe included below.
Homemade Salt Dough Recipe
You will need:
- 1 cup salt
- 2 cups of flour
- ¾ cup of water
To make salt dough:
1. In a large bowl mix salt and flour together. Mix well.
2. Slowly stir in the water. Mix them well until it forms a soft.
3. Knead the mixture with your hands until smooth.
Sparkling Sugar Plum Toddler Christmas Ornaments
You will need:
- Pre-prepared salt dough or air dry clay
- Cookie cutters: floral or round shapes
- Pink and purple craft glitter
- Sheer gold glitter paint or clear drying craft glue
- Pencil
- Ribbon/twine for hanging
Instructions:
1. Flatten out your dough or clay. Use the cookie cutters to cut dough shapes.
2. Take your pencil to poke a hole for hanging at the top of the ornament.
3. If using salt dough, place the ornaments into a pre-heated oven (90ºC/180ºF) for 2 hours. Check on them every 20 minutes to keep from burning. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Air dry clay ornaments can be left to dry overnight.
4. Paint ornaments with sheer gold paint or craft glue.
5. Sprinkle with pink and purple glitter while the glue or paint is wet. Shake off any extra glitter. Allow to dry.
6. Add ribbon or twine for hanging.
For more simple Christmas ornament crafts, check out this collection of ten Homemade Christmas Decorations for Kids to Make.
Christie Burnett is an early childhood teacher, presenter, writer and the editor of Childhood 101. More importantly, she is a Mum who believes wholeheartedly in the value of children learning through play, the importance of quality early education, and the togetherness of family.
