Sustainable crafting: How to make natural eco-friendly festive decorations

Sustainable crafting: How to make natural clay eco-friendly festive decorations

We love Christmas in our house, and the decorations most of all. So when we recently tried out this gorgeous and EASY Christmas craft, which only uses 2 simple ingredients, we just had to share it with you!

Homemade natural air-dry clay ornaments are a fantastic eco-friendly way to add some festive cheer to your home. They’re really easy and inexpensive to make, will last for years, and best of all, they are something for the whole family to do together (my 5 year old son just adored making these with us – he calls it Star Dough!).

You can use them to add a personal touch to your Christmas wreath or tree, string them together for a festive garland, or scatter them across your dining table along with some gathered pinecones for the perfect natural centrepiece!

And best of all, they can be composted when you no longer want them! (You may have guessed from the fact that all of our craft workshops use natural materials gathered and grown on our farm, we are big fans of being as sustainable as possible!)

Read below for a simple how-to, and if you try this yourself, please share the results via email or Instagram, we’d LOVE to see what you make!

Ingredients

You will need:

  • 1 cup of baking soda
  • 1/2 cup of corn flour
  • 3/4 cup of water

How to make natural air-dry clay decorations

Step 1: Add all of the dry ingredients together into a mixing bowl and mix well. Slowly add in the water and mix thoroughly until smooth.

Step 2: Cook in a saucepan on a medium heat. Use a whisk to stir the mixture constantly until it thickens and gets a little difficult to stir with a whisk.

Step 3: Switch to a wooden spoon and continue to stir until it comes together like a dough (be careful not to overcook!)

Step 4: Remove from the heat and leave to cool to room temperature (you can transfer it to a cool plate to speed this step up).

Step 5: Sprinkle some corn flour onto a rolling surface and knead the dough (if it’s a little sticky, add more corn flour – it should be pliable like play-doh but not sticky or crumbly).

Step 6: Dust a rolling pin with more cornflour and roll the dough to about 1/2cm thick.

Step 7: Use cookie cutters to cut shapes like stars, and you can also use natural objects like leaves and evergreen branches to create patterns.

Step 8: Remember to make a hole in each shape if you’re planning to hang them! We just used a wooden skewer.

Step 9: Bake on a cookie sheet lined with greaseproof paper at a low heat (around 80-90°C) for about 1-2 hours depending on the shape and thickness. You’ll know when they’re done when they look completely white and dried out. (They can also be air dried if left in a warm place for a few days!)

Handmade decorations hold a special kind of magic—they capture the laughter, love, and care that went into making them. In a world full of mass production, they remind us that the most meaningful things are crafted with our hands and hearts. Each piece tells a story of time spent together, creating lasting memories in the simplest, most heartfelt way.

Happy crafting!

~ Sophie

P.S. If you’ve enjoyed making these natural clay decorations, why not take it a step further? Join us for one of our eco-friendly craft workshops, where we guide you to create beautiful, sustainable things using natural materials grown and gathered on our farm. We’d love to see you there—click here to learn more and book your spot!