DIY Craft Project: How To Make Salt Dough Napkin Holders
Now that the holiday season is upon us, are you looking for creative ways to spend quality time with your family?
Why not create a beautiful set of Salt Dough Napkin Rings to dress up your Thanksgiving dinner table?
This easy-to-make project is the perfect craft to make with children of all ages and will add a touch of charm and beauty to your table throughout the Autumn season!
Our Salt Dough Leaf and Pumpkin Napkin Rings were inspired by this classic Dixie Crystals Salt Dough Leaf Napkin Holders recipe!
First you’ll need to gather a few basic supplies:
You’ll also need to pick your favorite cookie cutters for the project! For Thanksgiving, we selected a leaf and a pumpkin to adorn our table.
Supplies
2 Cups Salt
1 Cup Water, Divided
1 Cup Cornstarch
Baking Sheet (Non-Stick or Tin Foil Covered)
Red, Yellow and Orange Food Coloring
Leaf Shaped Cookie Cutter
Ribbon, Twine and/or Tulle
Instructions
1. Stir salt into 1/2 cup of water in a medium saucepan.
2. Cook over medium-low heat until hot.
3. Remove from heat.
4. In a bowl, mix the remaining 1/2 cup of water with the cornstarch until smooth.
5. Add the cornstarch mixture to the salt mixture.
6. Return the saucepan to the stove and cook, stirring constantly over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens into the consistency of stiff mashed potatoes.
7. Turn the mixture out onto a glass plate and cover with a damp towel.
8. Allow the dough to cool and then divide it based on the number of colors you need. Red, yellow and orange (a combination of red and yellow) are great colors to work with for autumn leaves. For our project, we used orange and brown (a combination of red, yellow and blue – which looks green before baking but turns brown after baking).
9. Flatten the dough with a rolling pin or with your hands. Use the leaf cookie cutter to cut out multiple shapes.
Here’s your opportunity for your creativity to shine! You and your children can make your leaves as colorful as you like or you can coordinate the leaves to match your décor. For our project, we used a lollipop stick to insert a hole in a few of the shapes so we could them as decorative embellishments for gift. We also scored our shapes using a toothpick and decorated our shapes with contrasting colored dough to add visual interest to our napkin holders.
10. Bake the napkin holders at 250 degrees for 2-3 hours until completely hard.
Here’s a sample of what our final salt dough napkin holders looked like!
11. Let the napkin holders cool, and then attach them to your cloth napkins with ribbon, twine, or tulle. We chose raffia to give ours extra rustic fall flair!
For more fun and versatility, consider using these salt dough leaves as decorative embellishments on gifts – as ornaments on trees – and as mementos to “leave” with your dinner guests!
Now that you know how easy it is to personalize your dinner table with handmade napkin holders, why not pin this tutorial and use it to decorate your table year round?
Keep The Inspiration Coming!
- For more Thanksgiving-inspired recipes and crafts, visit Dixie Crystals Thanksgiving.
- For more fun craft ideas you can make with your children, visit Dixie Crystals Kids Kitchen!
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Disclosure: This original post was written on behalf of our sponsor Dixie Crystals.
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A very pretty project with great results.
These are so cute. I’d love to have you share them at our Everything Fall 2020 party. Best wishes, Linda @crafts a la mode
https://www.craftsalamode.com/2020/09/everything-fall-2020.html?m=1
These are just adorable. I haven’t made anything out of salt dough since way back in my teaching days.
Very crafty. Love that blue.
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing on Traffic Jam Weekend! Pinned!
So glad you like this Niki! 🙂
These are looking very stylish! Love the way they complement the dark blue napkins.
Very nice post…really enjoyed it!
Thanks Sinziana – that means so much! 🙂
What a great idea. They are so cute.
Thanks – they were fun to make!
These are adorable. Pinned for later and tweeted to share. Thanks for sharing with #omhgww. See you next week.
Thanks for sharing Clarissa – have a lovely week!
These look fabulous and I am sure they were fun to make!
I remember making salt dough ornaments. It’s been years though. I’m happy to have read this, this is awesome. I’m bookmarking this so I can try to make some ornaments.
Thank you again for linking up with Sweet Tea & Friends this month.
That’s a great idea Paula – this is a fun project for all of the holidays!
These are so cute Joy! I love how easy it is to make them. They looked so great on your table.
Your napkin rings are very cute and festive for a fall tablesetting! Come share at the #HomeMattersParty every Thursday (9pm est) through Monday. Hope to see you there!
Such a great tutorial! I love the detail on the leaf ring and it looks so pretty on the navy blue napkin! ~Missy
Visiting again to say thanks so much for linking up at A Themed Linkup 121 for Fall Crafts and Décor. Shared.
I love these.
Simple and pretty.
Featuring your post on the Sunday Sunshine Blog Hop tomorrow.
God bless!
Laurie
Thank you so much Laurie – that news made my day! 🙂
This is such a cute idea! We used to make salt dough ornaments for our tree when my boys were little but I honestly never thought of making anything else with that dough. Pinned.
What a crafty idea! They turned out so nice!
Love these napkin rings. Congratulations, you are being featured on Thursday Favorite Things Party. I hope you stop by.
Hugs,
Bev
Humm, I’ve never tried to make salt dough ornaments or napkin holders before. Interesting, I appreciate your tutorial. I’m going to have to step out of my comfort zone and try this.
Thank you for sharing this tutorial with Sweet Tea & Friends this month.
These napkin rings are LOVELY! I’d love for you to join us over at the Creative Crafts Linky Party every Wednesday through Sunday
Followed and Pinned! ?
Creatively, Beth
These are so beautiful and what a creative idea! Be sure to stop by my weekly link party that goes every Wednesday-Sunday and link up for a chance to be featured!
This is such a great idea! They are darling. Visiting from Sweet Tea & Friends Linkup.
These are so cute. I remember making salt dough ornaments when I was a kid. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe and tutorial with Sweet Tea & Friends this month dear friend.
These would look so lovely on an autumn tablescape! Can’t wait to get crafting!
Hey, Ramona Thanks bunches for sharing this with Sweet Tea & Friends this month sweet friend.