Easy Food Diets

Slow Cooker Christmas Ornaments

Day 345.

Katy, a long-time reader emailed me yesterday and shared that she made salt dough ornaments with her kids, and asked if I knew a slow cooker recipe for the dough.

What a great idea!!

 The kids and I got to work at once making some salt dough. Ours arent Magazine Quality, but we had a bunch of fun rolling out the dough while singing (loudly!) to carols playing on the satellite TV channel.

The Ingredients.

1 cup salt
3 cups all purpose flour, or rice flour (I used a gluten-free all purpose because we were out of the inexpensive stuff)
1 cup luke warm water
1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil

The Directions.

Mix dough with hand or stand mixer until it reaches a ball. If needed, add 1 tablespoon more water while mixing. The dough will be sticky, but will hold shape when molded.










Make ornaments (or beads for stringing). We made a bunch of beads to create a garland, and a few cut-out shapes for regular ornaments with playdough cookie cutters. Use a chopstick to make a hole in the center of the ornaments--you need to have a good amount of dough surrounding the hole so it doesnt crumble when hung.










Line the bottom of your crockpot with parchment paper. I did not do this, and it was a bad idea. Place dough creations into the bottom of your crockpot. I used both of my 6 quart crockpots for this project. Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours, flipping once.










The ornaments are done when they are hard to the touch and have browned slightly. I did overcook a few, but after a coat of paint you cant tell.

After they have cooled completely, paint. We only had crayola poster paint in the house, so thats what we used. A paint that dries with a shiny coat would look better. Seal with a varnish or Mod Podge. I havent done this yet, but Ill get some Mod Podge next time Im at Michaels.


The Verdict.

These were a lot of fun for us. My four-year-old kept eating the dough which was a little weird, but we were all in a good mood, and made memories. I like salt dough a lot, and have used it to make hand and foot prints. I liked using the crockpot instead of the oven this year because we ended up with NO casualties---none of the pieces cracked, and the slow cooking meant I could fuss around with the pieces and move them around to ensure an even bake. I have a half-batch of the dough left wrapped up in the fridge, so this weekend well get some nicer paint and make some more ornaments to give as gifts.

more fun slow cooker stuff:
playdough
crayons
candles
shrinky dinks
soap
brownies-in-a-mug for details click below