Merry meet all,
I conjured up salt dough decorations. I am here to tell you how I did it so you will know how to create your own. A little about me: I own a tall black goth tree. The goth tree is tall and gnarly- perfect for a gothic Yule tree. I use that all year round but this year, I decided to go Nightmare Before Christmas.
I took my tree out from its usual corner. I cleaned it up and set it in my kitchen. I hung the usual decorations but I wasn’t happy with it totally. I wanted more and I found out what that more was. My tastes have changed. I have changed.
So I tossed out all my old or broken decorations. I donated what old decorations- an angel, colorful balls, tinsel etc. I was left with what I loved and cherished. I set that out, especially the gifts from a friend of mine. I then created the salt dough ornaments.
You can google the recipe but basically you blend salt, dough and water in a bowl. You then knead and roll out the dough on a floured surface. I cut out pumpkins, bats, cauldrons and a big jack Skellington disc. When they had dried, I painted them. I painted the bats and cauldrons black using black tempera paint. I painted the pumpkins orange and then ran out of the orange paint. I mixed yellow and red paint together to make the color orange. It was a deeper warmer orange shade. I let them all air dry again then I painted a sealant on them. They looked blue then the sealant dried. That prevents them from molding. They will last longer. I also set down wax paper before painting the ornaments. I can’t tell you how cool they looked. I shall include a photo. Painting the ornaments can get very messy.
When I was done, I rinsed my paintbrushes and washed the glass bowls. I prefer bowls over painting on a palette. It gives me more freedom than what a palette offers. I love using acrylic paints on everything. Be sure to poke a hole in the ornament to run a string through. If the hole fills in, then string a needle and run it through the ornament.
Knot each loop through the cookie. Than hang up ’em up on your tree! You can google all this. For the Skellington disc, I downloaded a template. I painted the Jack Skellington white. I etched the design of his face onto the disc using a knife. Then I used a black sharpie to draw and fill in the details. I poked a hole through and ran a string into a loop.
I wish I thought of attaching the bat. Ah well I love how it turned out! I still have salt dough remaining. I am not sure yet what to do with the rest of it. I hope this post inspires you to create your own decorations and traditions for Yule. It’s almost here!
I painted five popsicle sticks blue. I glued them together to form a pentacle. I ran string through plastic white bones to make a garland of bones. I knotted the string several times and ran a bead through at the beginning and ends of the string. That was to prevent the thread from slipping out. I hung it on the tree with care.
The tree is adorned with a book of spells ornament, stars, pumpkins, cauldrons, an owl, a fiddle, a ghost, black leaf Garland, a Garland of bones, a blue pentacle, a doll, a green xmas tree salt dough ornament from a past Yule, crescent moon, black bats, a black ghost a gold bell, blue crescent moon, silver stag, witch ornament- fright this way, and a brown cat.
Let me know what your own traditions are at Yule! P.S. I do want to try making a fragrant cinnamon stick star! Also, pinecones can be dried in the oven, painted and sprinkled in glitter for that touch of Winter Solstice magic! I hope you enjoy making your own decorations as a way of getting into the spirit of Yule! Be creative.
Blessings,
Spiderwitch
