Herb Infused Dough Ornaments

Did you ever make salt dough ornaments as a kid? These are basically the same thing, with a little bit of an extra kick!

Recipe:

4 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup of salt
1 cup of water

Herbs to pull what you want to fill your home with during the holiday season right to you.

This recipe will make approximately 30 ornaments. You can halve or double as needed.

Step 1:

Mix the flour and salt in a big bowl. Once they are thoroughly mixed slowly begin to add the water, mix as you add. Some people like to use a big wooden spoon, I use my hands and mix and knead the dough as if I were making bread. You want your dough to have a smooth texture... too crumbly or too sticky just won't work! If your dough is a bit on the crumbly side, go ahead and add a wee bit more water.

Step 2:

Once your dough is mixed it's time to pull put your herbs. I picked lavender for love and harmony, sage for patience and wisdom and cinnamon for prosperity. You can use more or less, I just decided to use three.

Separate your dough into equal portions that reflect the number of herbs you want to use. In this case, I have three herbs, so I split my dough into three balls.

Step 3:

Poke a hole into the center of your dough and fill it with the herb you are using in that batch. In this case I'm using the lavender. Fold the herb in and knead vigorously to spread it throughout the dough.

Step 4:

Once you've infused the dough with the herb, roll your ball of dough out to about 1/2" thickness on a sheet of waxed paper.

Step 5:

Grab your cookie cutters and get cutting! I chose to make my lavender dough into stars, but you can use any shapes you want. If you like your things to have a rougher feel, you can cut your shapes out free hand with a small pairing knife, just make sure you don't gouge your table! :)

Step 6:

Once you've cut your ornaments out, it's time to bake them. As you place each ornament onto an ungreased cookie sheet, poke a big hole near the top with a toothpick. Make sure it's slightly larger than you want it to be in the end as the ornaments tend to expand a wee bit while cooking.

Place the ornaments in the oven and bake for approximately 20 - 30 minutes at 350F. The ornaments will be hard to the touch once done. You can also stick a sewing pin in them to test doneness, if it comes out clean, they're done!

Step 7:
After they've cooled use a ribbon or thread to hang them. You can also paint them with acrylic paints, add glitter to them, or jazz them up however you'd like. Have fun with them and enjoy your herbal ornaments!