At my pet store we sell Paw Print ornament kits. They were really cute and I thought it would be a great gift for my mom – except they were $15 per kit and my mom has four dogs. I figured it would probably be pretty easy to DIY with a salt dough recipe, so that is exactly what I did.
I think these ornaments are a wonderful gift idea, the caveat being you have to have access to the recipient’s dogs. That said, this would be a perfect gift for clients if you are a pet sitter or groomer!
I started off with this salt dough recipe from Design Sponge.
I used Kosher salt because that’s all I had on hand. You’ll notice in the final product there are big, shiny chunks of salt, but I thought it looked fine.
With the dough ready to go, it’s time for a volunteer…
That’s you!
Notice the size difference between a Great Dane ornament and a regular dog ornament.
The two most difficult steps of this process are 1. Keeping the dogs from eating the dough.
And 2. Getting them to actually put their paw in the dough. In hindsight, I think it would have been easier to use their back paws, since they can’t lift them as easily and pull away.
I wrote their names and the year with a toothpick. I found that a stippling motion worked better than dragging it through the dough. It left a cleaner finish.
I used a straw to punch a hole for ribbon.
“Sissy, can I eat this?”
“I feel like I want to eat it.”
.
The finished ornaments.
After 6 hours in a 200-degree oven.
With a ribbon, and hung on the tree!
I think I will probably coat them in Mod Podge or spray them with acrylic sealer before I pack them away, just to be on the safe side.
Linking up with: Monday Funday, Sugar Bee Crafts