Hearth and Vine

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How to Make a Salt Dough Christmas Garland

by 24 Comments

Learn how to make this salt dough Christmas garland, combined with wooden beads, to create a bright and rustic decoration for your holiday home.

More Garland Projects: 
Dried Orange Garland, Seeded Eucalyptus Garland, Egg Carton Flower GarlandSalt dough christmas garland with wooden beads.

I was thinking about using natural wooden beads with the fresh greenery I always hang on our mantel during the holidays. Somehow it just didn’t seem like enough, so I tried my hand at making a salt dough Christmas garland, by creating stars to add with the wooden beads.

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Materials

All-Purpose Flour
Table Salt
Rub n Buff Gold 
Twine
Glitter
White Spray Paint
Mod Podge or White Glue
Wooden Beads

Salt dough Christmas garland stars

I cut out one large star, several medium stars, and a couple little stars.

I made holes with a wooden skewer on each side of the stars so that I could thread them onto the twine where they would face out and not dangle.

Salt dough stars gilded with rub n buff wax

After they had cooled I brushed them with Mod Podge, (white glue would also work) and sprinkled on a little clear glitter. Then I rubbed the edges with Rub N Buff metallic wax.

Basic Salt Dough Recipe:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup salt
  • 3/4 cup water 

Mix the three ingredients together in a large bowl. Add more water if needed to form a nice non-sticky dough ball.

Roll out the dough and cut into shapes. Poke holes for hanging with a skewer or small straw.

Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes.

You can keep the leftover dough in a sealed plastic container for a couple of days.

Salt dough stars with white paint and glitter

I made a second batch of salt dough stars to hang from the dining room chandelier. These were coated with a bit of white spray paint and glitter. 

Salt dough starts on chandelier

Here they are hanging from the dining room chandelier using fishing line.

Salt dough Christmas garland with cedar

Here is a closeup of the garland. I came up with a pattern for the wooden beads and gilded the smaller wood beads with the Rub n Buff wax.

Salt dough Christmas garland on mantel

The natural color of the wooden beads and salt dough stars looks great on the mantel with fresh greens and the cream-colored nativity set.

Salt Dough Christmas Garland

Salt dough stars and wood bead garland.

I can’t believe I haven’t worked with salt dough before. It’s so easy and costs next to nothing to make. Now the wheels in my head are turning with new salt dough projects.

 

Salt dough Christmas garland with wooden beads.

 

 

About Patti Estep

Patti is the creator of Hearth and Vine, a home and garden blog filled with projects to inspire your creative side. She loves crafting, gardening, decorating and entertaining at her home in Pennsylvania. When she is not working on a project at home or searching for treasures at nurseries and thrift stores with her girlfriends, you’ll probably find her with family and friends, at a restaurant, or home party enjoying new and different food adventures.

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Comments

    • Patti Estep says

      Hi Mary,

      I’m sorry yours didn’t work out for you. The only tricky part I had was the water, which is why I said 3/4 cup instead of 1 cup. One cup for me was way too wet. At 3/4 cup you probably will need to add some water but not much. The dough should not be sticky or too dry. I’m sure you will get a good batch and great something wonderful.

      Reply

  2. Barbara Chapman ~ French Ethereal says

    Hello Patti, such a fun project! My mom and I rolled many little balls back when I was very little. She usually decorated out Christmas trees with cranberries and popcorn, but in Hawaii it was hard to get cranberries {and probably expensive, too}. So, she switched to salt dough “cranberries”. They turn out great and last forever! I have some little Smurfs and an ET that I bought at my high school craft fair back in 1978 or so that are still good. Whomever made them stuck paperclips into their backs as hangers. They still work. 🙂

    Happy creating now that the Salt Dough Santa has been let loose! 😉
    xoxo Barb 🙂

    Reply

    • Patti Estep says

      Hi Barbara,

      Yes, it has been a long time but hey it still works out great and maybe some people haven’t thought of it as an easy and affordable way to decorate. Love hearing all about your childhood memories. I just might have to make some faux cranberries next.

      Reply

    • Patti Estep says

      Hi Florence,

      Thanks for your kind comments.
      Yes, that was me with the egg cartons. 🙂
      The salt dough was incredibly easy to do so versatile I definitely recommend it.

      Reply

  10. Carole West says

    Can you believe this….. as a little girl I made salt dough ornaments with a family friend using cookie cutters. We painted them and they hung around for years. I think at some point my mom had to toss them because they started to crumble. This garland is beautiful and your entire mantle is stunning. You my friend…. Get it!

    Reply

    • Patti Estep says

      Thanks Michelle. I found Rub n Buff years ago for an old brown mirror. It was so easy to change it to antique gold with a little Rub n Buff so I’ve continued using it all these years.

      Reply

  12. Rhonda Relyea says

    I can’t wait to try this! I love making crafts especially for Christmas! Thanks so much for all this and all your other posts! Merry Christmas!

    Reply

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