Cornstarch and Baking Soda Ornaments

We made cinnamon ornaments last year, so we wanted to try something different. I found this recipe online: http://12thhouseblog.com/2012/11/26/homemade-cornstarch-ornaments-great-for-painting-better-than-salt-dough/

Ingredients: 

2 cups baking soda

1 cup cornstarch

1 1/2 cups water

Whisk the ingredients together in a large pot until smooth. Heat on medium heat (I had my stove between 5 and 6.)

Continue stirring constantly until the mixture changes consistency. 

Pull from the heat when it forms a dough, as shown below. It took about 12 minutes. 

When it is cool enough to touch (a couple of minutes), place the ball of dough on a table covered with a light layer of cornstarch. 

Place a damp towel over the dough ball, until it is cooled. 

When the dough is cooled, roll it out on a piece of wax paper. Roll the dough to be about 1/4 inch thick. Then cut out shapes with your cookie cutter. 

We wrote names and the year with a toothpick on some of the ornaments. Then we used a skewer to poke a hole in the top. 

Place the ornaments on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 175 degrees for 50 minutes. Flip the ornaments. (It is cool enough in the oven to flip with your hands.) Bake for about another 50 minutes, or until the ornaments are no longer spongy. 

The final step is to paint the ornaments if you would like. We used Sharpie markers. Tie a ribbon through the skewer hole.