Need A Last-Minute Christmas Present? Make A Nativity Salt Dough Handprint Ornament

Celebrate the reason for the season with your kids by making an easy Nativity Salt Dough Handprint Ornament! This nativity salt dough handprint ornament craft is great for kids of all ages: toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarten kids. This Christmas manger craft is great whether you’re at home or at Sunday school!

Easy, Religious, Christmas Nativity Salt Dough Handprint

My absolute favorite thing during the holidays is bringing out all of our handmade Christmas ornaments, and telling the stories behind them as we decorate the tree. Some of my family’s most special ornaments are handprint salt dough ornaments.

Related: Baby Jesus & Three Wisemen Christmas Coloring Pages and 7 Days of Fun Creation Crafts for Kids

These salt dough ornaments also make the best homemade Christmas gifts for loved ones! They are the perfect gift solution for the grandparent who has everything. I adore any craft for children that involves handprints or footprints, because kids grow so quickly. These keepsakes are beyond priceless!

There are just so many different ways to create handprint holiday crafts. But this Nativity Salt Dough Handprint Ornament might just be my favorite. I think it’s because of how it all ties in the beauty and hope of a child’s innocence with the true meaning of the Christmas story.

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Nativity Salt Dough Handprint Ornament Recipe/ Instructions

Here’s what you need to make this Nativity Salt Dough Handprint Ornament:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup salt
• 1/2 cup warm water
• Acrylic paint (I love this set, especially for kids! It even comes with a little plastic palette and brushes. Such a fun Christmas gift idea for your little crafter!)
• Toothpick
• Festive String

How To Make This Cute and Religious Nativity Salt Dough Ornament Craft

Step 1

Mix the flour, salt, and water together in a large bowl to form the dough.

Step 2

Roll the dough flat, and press your child’s handprint into it. Cut around the edges, and use the toothpick to poke two holes into the ornament, so that you can hang it on the tree.

Step 3

Allow your Nativity Salt Dough Ornament to air dry in a warm place for 48-72 hours. You can also bake the ornaments at 200 degrees F for 3-4 hours to speed the process.

Step 4

Once dry, use acrylic paint to color the ornament. We painted the palm of the handprint brown to look like the hay with Baby Jesus on it. Next, we transformed each finger into a shepherd or a Wise Man. Let your child paint the ornament, and it becomes even more precious of a keepsake!

Step 5

Lace string or ribbon through the holes at the top of the ornament, and tie to together to form a loop for the ornament hook to latch onto, and voilà!

You have a sweet reminder not only of the true meaning of the season, but a forever-reminder of this stage as your little one continues to grow!

How Should You Store Your Nativity Salt Dough Handprint Ornament?

In my opinion, you can never be too careful in how you store breakable ornaments!

I keep all of my most precious ones in a storage box in my linen closet. I won’t even store these in my attic or basement, just to be cautious.

You can wrap them in bubble wrap with packing tape as an extra measure of prevention, and don’t over-pack the ornament container you use to store them. I have accidentally crushed ornaments that way!

Are You Inspired To Make More DIY Christmas Ornaments Now? We have more ornament Crafts From Kids Activities Blog

Once I get started crafting, I don’t want to stop! These Nativity Salt Dough Ornaments are a gateway craft into so many more fun Christmas crafting ideas! Check out these ideas:

What are your favorite holiday DIYs? We would love to hear all about it!