Hand {& Foot} Print Ornaments

I've been lamenting lately about how Theo has zero ornaments this year. And I was still wanting to add another homemade ornament to our tree this year.Why not come up with an ornament that does both?

So my hunt began and my criteria was simple: homemade, easy for Mama to prep, personalized, and kid-friendly. And I found this:

Salt Dough Ornaments

I made my salt dough during the boys' naps. Since we don't have any cookie cutters yet {tragedy, I know!}, I had to great creative. Then the idea hit me: PRINTS!

I'd also been lamenting this whole year that I don't have any of E's {and subsequently of T either}. In fact, it became one of my New Year's Resolutions at the beginning of this year. And I finally and actually fulfilled my goal. What?! I'm still in shock since I still can barely meet the daily goals of brushing my teeth, getting deodorant on and oh, forget make-up.... So sorry, I digress...

I followed the recipe. Worked my dough out.

Found my forms:

Put the dough ornaments on parchment paper and used a skewer to get a hole through the tops of them. I made sure that the hole went through  all the way.

Once the boys were up, I helped them pressed their respected appendage into the dough. I then used some small letter stamps that my mom had to get their names on too {got that idea here}. Then into the oven they went at 250 degrees for about 3 hours.

Cost: Free {if you already have the flour and salt}

After they harden, I strung some jute string through the holes and hung those adorable babies up.

 You could also try painting them as see here.


Additional Tips: 
**don't make your ornaments too far in advance. By the time Theo woke up, his were already starting to harden so I had to re-roll his out again
**I wrote 2011 on the back with pen once they were dry, but using the skewer would have worked too
**water was my best friend to get that dough-y texture in order to get decent prints. Whenever the dough got too cracked and hard, I just added some more warm water to my hands and re-worked the dough.
**I tried doing a hand print of T's but I just couldn't keep it open long enough to press it while holding him upright. Should've seen how silly that looked. So I opted for a foot print and it came out so much better.
**I plan on sealing the ornaments with a clear spray to keep for years to come.