This glitter Christmas decoration was inspired by my childhood and playing with play dough.
This is a great glitter project for kids and the whole family. You can make homemade play dough then make ornaments for your Christmas tree.
For this glitter craft project you will need:
- 1/2 cup of salt
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1 cup of flour
- food coloring
- craft and or poly glitters (I used craft glitters in the following chunky (0.040 size) size Sterling Silver, Dazzling White, Kelly Green Dream, Snow White Iridescent, Alabaster Frost, Light Blue Luster, Jeweled Blue, and Ghost Iridescent. I also chose craft glitters in bigger flake sizes ( Colossal Flake (0.125) Very Merry Red, Colossal Flake (.0125) Black Shadow, Jumbo Flake (0.094) Black Shadow, Fat Flakes (0.062) Silver Moonlight, and Fat Flakes (0.062) Black Shadow.
- several bowls (to make the play dough in and add different colors)
- a spoon
- craft gloves (to avoid getting food coloring on your skin)
- an apron (to avoid getting food coloring on your clothes)
Place the salt, water, and flour into a medium mixing bowl and stir together.
After the mix gets crumbly, change to mixing the ingredients with your hands.
The amount of food coloring you will need for each ornament will depend on how deep of a color you want. Try adding a few (1-5) drops at a time, the less food coloring used the lighter color the ornaments will be.
Now is the time to put your gloves on, as the food dye will color your hands.
I added 20 drops of green food coloring and 5 drops of blue food coloring to a palm-sized amount of homemade play dough make a Christmas tree ornament.
After spraying the cookie sheet with the cooking spray, I placed each of the glitters into the pan.
I then pressed the homemade play dough into the section for each ornament.
I left the play dough to dry in the mold for about an hour, then I lifted the ornament out of the mold, making sure not to squish the ornament (the play dough was still very damp), and left them to dry in a warm area next to a heater.
If you lay them out in a warm area they will dry out in about 24 hours. If you do not want to wait that long, you can place them in a warm oven (about 100 degrees for a couple of hours). Do not place them in a hot oven as craft glitter melts at around 280 degrees .
The finished tree ornament turned out good. If you find that the decorative glitters do not stay on the ornament you can use a little glue to stick them to the ornament. You can trim off the excess around the mold or leave it more free form. It is your choice.
For the snowman ornament, I made a mix of 1/8 teaspoon of each of the glitters you white glitters below to make the body.
I then placed the Jeweled Blue craft glitter into the oiled mold for the hat.
I placed the three sizes of Black Shadow craft glitters in the areas for the eyes, mouth, and button areas.
I then pressed the glitter play dough into the mold and followed the same drying steps as with the tree.
The snowman turned out fairly good. I need to reapply the Jeweled Blue craft glitter with a little Elmer's Clear Glue to get it fully covered. Again- you can trim the excess off around the shape or leave it.
The snowflake decoration was very easy to make.
I added 2 drops of blue food coloring to a palm-sized amount of the play dough mixture and blended it fully. Then I added 1/8 teaspoon of each of the glitter colors.
With the glitter mixed into the play dough there was not an issue with the glitter coming off of the ornament.
This glitter ornament shimmers and glimmered as it twisted and twirled from its hanger on the Christmas tree.
Final Note: It is best to trim the excess off when it is wet and also poke a hole for the hanger.
