Salt Dough Diffuser Ornament

Flour, water, and salt. That is all you need to make a keepsake ornament to cherish for years to come. These DIY ornaments are easy to make and safe for all members of the family to join in. This Christmas, create a Cinnamon Salt Dough Diffuser Ornament for your tree and fill your home (and your heart) with the enjoyable scent of essential oils.

Salt Dough ornaments are a classic holiday craft that gracefully adorns Christmas trees around the world.

I have fond childhood memories of making homemade salt dough ornaments, both at school and also at home with my family. I still have a few of the ornaments that hung on our family Christmas tree nearly 30 years ago. Now, I have a new collection of homemade ornaments made by my children, which grows larger every year.

As my kids get older, the ornaments get a little bit fancier and a little bit more elaborate, but they still represent their unique personalities. We love making ornaments out of natural air-dry clay, like this Christmas Diffuser Ornament.

This year, we are making Cinnamon Salt Dough Diffuser Ornaments. The cinnamon adds a touch of color and enhances the smell of the essential oils. You can customize the ornament and also the scent with different oils. The ingredients are so simple, you likely already have them in your cupboard.

So grab a cup of peppermint hot cocoa, and follow along as we make Salt Dough Diffuser Ornaments!

History of Salt Dough

These types of ornaments have been made for centuries, dating back to Egyptian times. The ingredients were easily accessible and at a low cost. The art of using salt dough ornaments as a festive decoration became popular in Europe, more specifically in Germany.

The salt works to preserve the ornament, while the flour and water form a clay-like dough. The dough can be shaped into any design, and once it dries it will last for years. You can extend the life of a salt dough ornament by sealing it with varnish like a mod-podge or polyurethane paint.

How to Make a Salt Dough Ornament

All you need to make this recipe is flour, salt, and water. If you are the creative type, gather some crafting supplies to customize your ornament. Cookie cutters, stamps, glitter, and acrylic paint are some of the supplies you can use.

I kept this recipe simple and added cinnamon to give it a bit of color and an added touch of fragrant cinnamon. You can let the ornaments dry overnight, or bake them in a low-temperature oven to speed things up. Get the kids involved for a fun craft and make an ornament to treasure year after year!

New to essential oils? Learn more about how we use them and why you should use them as well.

Cinnamon Salt Dough Diffuser Ornament

Ingredients

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1/4 cup cinnamon
1/2 cup warm water
twine
parchment paper
straw

Directions

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
Mix salt, flour, cinnamon, and water.
Knead the mixture into a ball. If the mixture is too sticky, add additional flour to get the right consistency.
Knead dough until there are no cracks and the dough is smooth for about 5 minutes. Refrigerate dough for one hour.
Roll dough out flat onto parchment paper or a silicone slip mat, about ¼ inch thick.
Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes, or imprint designs with stamps.
Use a straw to punch a hole at the top of the ornament to add a ribbon. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 2-3 hours, or dry overnight. Let cool completely.
Paint and decorate your ornaments. Let dry and tie with a ribbon or twine.
Add 2-3 drops of the essential oil of your choice to the back of the ornament and hang on your tree!

Essential Oils to Add to Your Diffuser Ornament

If you have a fake tree in your home, you are probably missing the scent of a fresh cut pine or fir tree. Essential oils can be added to an artificial tree to recreate the scent using a diffuser ornament.

Simply add 2-3 drops of oil to the back of the ornament. Read more about adding essential oils to your Christmas tree here.

Here are my favorite essential oils to use around the holidays:

Christmas Spirit
Northern Lights Black Spruce
Pine
Cinnamon Bark
Cedarwood
Frankincense
Orange
Cypress
Myrrh
Clove
Peppermint
Stress Away

I found these adorable essential oil bottle cookie cutters here. I am obsessed! They are perfect for making ornaments or cookies. These will get plenty of use at my house!