Homemade Favor Idea

We want our big day to be very special, and that means doing a lot of things ourselves including the decorations and the wedding favors. While perusing Pinterest, I came across some beautiful ideas but many of them would be costly (involving purchasing little bottles for holding treats or soaps). I wanted something that would be truly "handmade," and I hope they appreciate the work that went into the gifts as every step that was taken was with our family and friends in mind! THAT is the type of project that I wanted - something that involves a lot of handiwork.

Finally, I came across a winner - salt dough ornaments! While it is not Christmas, I knew that I could easily craft salt dough ornaments that would hold meaning for many years to come. I didn't want to make a "Jon and Kristin" ornament as this would be something we'd hang on our own tree but not something that Myrlinda would want to hang on hers! However, each time she looks at the ornament, she'll remember where the ornament came from and that it was something that was crafted with love for my dear friend!

To make salt dough, all you need is some all purpose flour, salt and water! This would be a good time to share instructions on how to make these great ornaments. Here's the recipe that I used:

Salt Dough 
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. You can mix the dough in a mixer with a dough hook until well mixed. You can add food coloring to tint the dough if you'd like. Next, lightly flour a surface and rolling pin. Divide dough into parts (I divide it into four parts, covering the dough not being worked to prevent drying out or throw it into a Ziploc). Roll out the door to about 1/4 inch thick. You can make your cutouts thinner but I am making mine this thick because I want them to be durable. Dip your cutter (cookie or even a jar lid or other shape) into flour as needed to prevent the dough from sticking. Cut your shapes. Next, you can stamp your ornaments with a rubber stamp and ink (you can coat the stamp with a light coat of vegetable oil to keep it from sticking to the dough). Take a straw or bamboo skewer (if small, you can work it around a little to make the hole larger) and make a hole where you want to tie the ribbon or string. Put ornaments onto cookie sheet and bake for about six hours. Remove from oven and cool. Using fine sandpaper, sand down the edges. Spray lightly with a clear coating (veneer spray or you can paint it on with a brush). Let dry and then insert colorful ribbon or raffia to complete your ornament and it's ready to give!

I found some great stamps on sale at Hobby Lobby during a 50% off sale. I paid about $2.50 for each stamp and the ink was also on sale so it came to $1 for each stamp pad in various colors. The dough cost less than $1 and makes a decent batch of ornaments (depending on the size of the cutter). This said, once the supplies were purchased for the stamp and ink, these ornaments cost pennies to make but are absolutely precious and a good way to express your heartfelt appreciation to your guests for helping to make your day special.

I'm still working on these - the photos below are my first "test" batch and the finished ornament is still not finished as I have not sanded it down or coated it with veneer to keep moisture out and preserve the ornament. I'm looking forward to making several batches of these in the coming months in preparation for our wedding. I'll be sharing updated photos in the future!

Almost finished. I need to sand it and add the veneer coating to prevent moisture. I used some extra raffia that I had from Christmas projects, but I am going to also use some colorful ribbon. This one was originally done with a yellow stamp but it didn't show up so I went back over it with a black paint pen.

These are done with orange ink. It shows up pretty good (just not in this photo).