With Christmas decorations put away my mantel is feeling a little bare 🙁 S and I had made a Valentine’s Day Heart Banner last year and I think it’s time to pull it out. The hearts are made out of marbled salt dough and strung together to form a banner. The perfect addition to my mantel.
Salt Dough
To make the salt dough mix together:
1/2 cup of salt
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup of water (you may not need all of it)
You want the salt dough to be well combined but not sticky. If your dough is dry add more water, if it’s sticky add more flour. Divide the salt dough into as many colors as you want and then mix in food coloring.
Make small balls of dough and then create one big mountain of salt dough. Smash the mountain flat and roll out. Remember you want the dough to be marbled. We used several different sizes of heart cookie cutters, but you could just use one size.
Once the hearts were cut out I used a bamboo skewer to make holes for the string. To dry the salt dough place in the oven on cookie sheets on the lowest heat setting for several hours flipping every 30 minutes.
Another option is to microwave like we did for our salt dough patriot star banner last summer. Place the salt dough shapes in the microwave for 2 minutes and then flip them for 2 more minutes. The dough should be dry, if it is not dry keep cooking in 30 second intervals until dry. While the microwave worked, they were a little poofy in places.
Once the hearts were dry we painted two coats of mod podge on the hearts including the sides and backs (S did one coat on each front before I lost her).
To assemble the banner measure out the length of string (I used baker’s twine) you need for your area and then add two feet. I start with the center heart feeding the twine through the holes and then tying knots behind each hole to keep the heart in place. I continue feeding the hearts onto the twine and tying the knots. Then I tied a loop on each end to use for hanging.
To hang the banner, I used two small Command Strip hooks stuck to the top of my mantel. If you saw my post about arranging multiple picture frames in a grid, you know that I LOVE my Command Strips!
The marbled surfaces are super nice! It’s beautiful and handmade.
Thank you Lindsey!
How fun for kids to make
Thank you for stopping by!
Wow! I have never seen anything like this before. I absolutely love it and it’s so creative. I remember making something out of a white dough once and it got hard over time. I was young at the time and tasted it. I remember it being salty so I’m assuming this is the same thing. LOL!
Thank you so much! It probably was the same dough 🙂
You win the award for creativeness! This is super cute and I love the marbled look. My home always looks so bare after Christmas, too. What a fun project for Valentine’s Day.
Thank you Alli! The banner was so fun and easy to make!
This is so fun and creative. I will have to do this with Hamp! I have been wanting to make a Vday banner for our mantel. 🙂
I hope you two enjoy! It was super fun and easy!
I remember when my girls use to make those dough hearts in school for Valentines Day and other school projects. So much fun!
Arts and crafts was always my favorite at school!
This is way too adorable. I know my younger sisters would love this craft for valentines. <3
Thank you Alyssa! I hope she has fun making a banner!
This looks like a really fun craft to do with my grandchildren. We usually stick to paper crafts, but they would love this.
Thanks Dedra! It was really fun, but then if there is glitter involved it’s success.
Lovely idea for a banner. I imagine the same technique could be used for decorations for any holiday. Wonderful!
Exactly Teresa! Different colored dough, different shape cookie cutters and totally different banner!
Adorable craft! Love the photos!!!
Thank you so much Bonni!
my daughter would absolutely love this project! Pinning for later reference thank you!
keia
Thank you Keia! I hope she enjoys the project!
I love this idea! It’s super cute. I’ve made similar ornaments for Christmas, but I love that you made these hearts for a Valentine’s Day banner. Awesome! I’m sharing!
Thank you Christie! Christmas ornaments would be awesome with marbled dough!
Great job as usual, Paris! I wouldn’t have thought to hang up salt dough like that, but it looks great. Thanks for sharing at the Retro Re-Pin Party.
Thank you so much Julie!
I love that you and your little one were able to make something together that will last year after year. It is so cute, too.
Thank you so much Heather!
This banner is such a fantastic project for Valentine’s day. I love how you mixed the different colors and that it was a project you could do with your kids. I’ve included it in my Your Turn to Shine features today. Thanks for linking up with us!
Thank you so much Jamie!
What a fun idea for the kids! I love to involve them in my decorating. They love it too. Thank you for linking up at Snickerdoodle. Hope to see you this week! Shared.
Thank you Elizabeth!
What a fun an adorable Valentine’s Day craft.
Thank you Karissa!
This looks like so much fun! I’ll bet your daughter loved it as would my grandkids. Thanks for sharing with Creative Spark Link Party. I hope you can join us again this week, the party is live today.
Glenna @ My Paper Craze
Thank you Glenna! It was so much fun to make!
This is an adorable craft! Thanks for sharing with us at Mommy Monday!
XOXO
Thank you!