Air-drying Clay Christmas Decorations

Little ones love to make their own Christmas decorations. And I am always on the hunt for easy and not too messy ways of making pretty decorations that look great on our tree. These air-drying clay Christmas decorations tick all the boxes in my house.

They are quick and easy to make, look great, and are not too messy. They are that easy that even a small toddler can make them! And here is how you can too!

Air-drying Clay Christmas Decorations

this Idea!

We first made these when Elizabeth was just 2 years old. Because air drying clay is a bit like play doh, it is very easy to get a small child involved in the pressing out of shapes and painting the finished pieces. Because they don’t need to be baked they are perfect for little ones.

And you can actually get some pretty attractive looking results, even when you do have a toddler. We didn’t use paints for ours – read on to see how we decorated our finished pieces.

For The Decorations

You will need

• some air drying clay  – I used Das
• a rolling pin or something to roll it out
• a small cookie cutter – we chose a small heart
• a cocktail stick or skewer
• a non-stick surface to roll it out
• some items to imprint the surface
• some paints to paint the finished decorations (optional) – though I actually used something different – read on to see what I used!

Making The Decorations

We rolled the clay out onto a greaseproof baking paper. Elizabeth loved it as it really was like using play dough.

We cut out some heart shapes and used various things to imprint the resulting shapes. One of the best things I found were some letter and number shapes to make names with. Make a small hole at the top of each decoration with a cocktail stick or skewer. You may want to smooth the edges of your decorations with a moist finger, so that they are not too sharp.

You do have to leave the shapes overnight to fully dry before painting. The finished decorations can then be painted if you wish.

We used different nail polishes to decorate. My little girl loves nail polish, and we always have plenty of little bits. Some of mine also contain glitter, and it is a great non-messy way of using glitter with toddlers! 

You can also use acrylic paints. Finally, thread some string, ribbon or cord through the little hole and you have a great little decoration.

I think than Nana and Grandma will both love these!

Have you seen the other decorations that we have made? We also have made

•  Salt Dough Christmas Decorations,
• Egg Carton Santa Decorations and
• Hole Punch Confetti Cards

Do you think that you could make these decorations? I would love to see yours if you do make them. Comment below, or find me on social media. 

And please do pin this post for later.