DIY White Salt Dough Recipe (2024)

If you want to create white salt dough ornaments this Christmas you will love this DIY recipe for how to whitensalt dough!

Remember that DIY post from a couple of years ago about How to Whiten Salt Dough? Well, it’s one of my most popular Christmas posts! And as I was looking at it recently I discovered that while I shared how to whiten salt dough, I didn’t give an exact recipe.

What the?

So I decided that it was time to revisit the post & share an actual white salt dough recipe so that your salt dough looks light & bright every time!

Now of course when working with dough, even a nonedible DIY dough, you may need to make some adjustments to the recipe depending on where you live (in relation to the sea level) & the humidity of your home.

So don’t get discouraged if your dough is too sticky or too dry. The fix is as simple as adding more flour or more (white paint) water!

And once your dough is just right you can create all kinds of beautiful ornaments, gift tags, & any other project you can dream up! I even created salt dough wedding favor gift tags for our wedding some 5+ years ago.

Now before we get started I thought that I should share address some questions & comments that I received in my last post so that you don’t have to go scrolling through the comments to read my responses.

Jay: “How long do the ornaments last when dry? Do they need sealing? Thankee xx”

Giusti: “Hey Jay!

To be honest I have never tried sealing my salt dough ornaments. I’m pretty sure my mom has some unsealed salt dough ornaments hanging on her tree right now that my sister & I made as kids. But if you are worried about it you could try sealing it with Mod Podge or a clear polyurethane.

See Also

Let's Make Mud Play Dough: Easy Coffee Playdough RecipeOur Best Brunch Recipesa construction-themed birthday menu: mango and chocolate swiss buttercream recipes :: story of a kitchenVegan Applesauce Pancakes Recipe - Elephantastic Vegan

Hope that helps!

Happy crafting! 🙂”

When I first created this post I never imagined that it would receive so much attention. I had shared it as a helpful tip rather than a recipe to be followed. So after realizing that so many people were interested in creating awhite salt dough, I realized I really needed to recreate this post with exact measurements.

Plus I had some readers with great suggestions on making the mixing part easier, which I’ve included in the directions of the recipe below!

So let’s get started!

But first I thought I should share some tips before we move on to the exact recipe.

Note on Storing

If you are unable to use up all of your salt dough in one crafting session you can keep it in a sealed container for 3-5 days. Just add a little water or flour as needed once you are ready to use the rest of the saved salt dough. I wrap my leftover salt dough in plastic wrap & then place it in a sealed container in the fridge.

So far I’ve had it in there for 2 or 3 weeks & it hasn’t gone bad. That being said, I recommend you use it as soon as possible, because we will all need every inch of space in our fridge the closer we get to Christmas!

Note on Drying

There are two ways to dry your salt dough.

The first is on a piece of parchment paper covered bakingsheet in the oven at 200ºF for 2-3 hours or until they are hardened. Just be sure to keep an eye on them if you put them in the oven.

The second is to let it air dry on a piece of parchment paper for 48-72 hours.About every 12 hours I flip the salt dough over so that the “wet” side of the dough will be exposed for (relatively) quicker drying.

Either way, the thicker they are the more time they will need to dry.

And if you are curious as to what the White Salt Dough looks like air-dried vs oven dried I thought I would show you two quick examples.

In the first picture, you can see the salt dough that I dried in the oven at 200ºF for 2-3 hours.

The second photo shows the salt dough that was air dried for 48-72 hours.

As you can see in the pictures, the regular air dried salt dough looks almost as white as the air dried white salt dough. And while it looks a little warmer/creamier in real life, it is remarkable how much the normal recipe for salt dough looks so much whiter when air dried versus when it is baked.

And even though this is true, I will continue to whiten my salt dough when creating salt dough name tags & salt dough Christmas ornaments for two reasons.

The first is that no matter if I bake or airdry the salt dough the result will still be white. The second is that I love the crisper clean look of the white salt dough over the baked &/or air dried salt dough.

If you don’t have any white paint on hand & are willing to wait 3 days until the salt dough dries than you may wish to simply use a normal salt dough recipe, which you can find here & here.

However, if you want to create White Salt Dough you will find the exact recipe I used below.

Happy Christmas crafting!

Note: Every paint is different, some are thicker and others are more watery. This paint worked for this recipe, but I have another blog post where I used a different brand of white paint that needed different measurements of flour and salt. You can find the alternative recipe by clicking here.

Print

Recipe Card powered by

If you make theseDIY White Salt Dough this season be sure to share a picture & tag @DomesticallyBlissful on Instagram so that we can all see your beautiful creation!

And if you enjoyed this tutorial, be sure to subscribe to my newsletter below so that you don’t miss out on another blissful tutorial!

What do you plan to create with your white salt dough?
I’d love to hear from you!
Feel free to comment below, email me, or tweet me onTwitter.

Want to connect on amore personal level!?
You can find me & Domestically Blissful on
Facebook,Instagram,Twitter,Bloglovin, &Pinterest!

With love, Giustina

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—
for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
1 Timothy 2:1-2 NIV