Then roll it out, again on a lightly floured surface, until it is approx 2 cm thick at the most. Form a basic circle, just bigger than your child’s hand, and then ask them to stretch their fingers far away from their thumb and press their hand in that shape, firmly into the dough.

It is sometimes easier to roll it onto baking paper so that it can be transferred straight to the baking sheet afterwards, to avoid it getting stuck to the table top.

Next, turn the hand around and use the drinking straw to make two holes near the base of the hand (opposite from the fingertips,)  and evenly spaced. The ribbon will be thread through here to hang the ornament later.

Now place the salt dough hand print into the oven on a baking tray and leave it to dry out for approximately 3 hours on a VERY low oven temperature. I advise around 100 degrees C (approx 212 F) and no higher. The salt dough can rise and get bubbles if the oven is too high.

If the salt dough is still doughy in the middle after 3 hours then turn it over and put it in for another 2-3. Make sure it’s not too thick to begin with as these sometimes don’t harden properly.

Now it’s time to decorate! I recommend using acrylic paints as they will act as a sealant and won’t absorb into the salt dough. It’s also worth using good quality paintbrushes such as these, if you can.

First we painted the reindeer using dark brown acrylic paint, then painted the background with a bright blue shade.

When that was dry we added some details such as the eyes, antlers and red nose, using paint pens , which give finer control.

For an extra special keepsake you could ask your child to use their fingerprint dipped in paint to make the red nose that way instead!

Once totally dry it is ready to thread through some ribbon or twine and hang on display! If your child’s hand is big then the rudoplh salt dough hand print keepsake will be quite heavy, so it might be best displayed on a flat surface or propped on a shelf.

If you liked this one you will love our Christmas Tree Salt Dough Handprint Keepsakes   and these gorgeous Fingerprint Gingerbread Men Keepsakes which are so cute too!

And here is the Nativity Handprint Keepsake we made!

If you want a straight up post about making simple Salt Dough Christmas Ornaments then this one is for you.

And a whole host of other salt dough ideas here too! Plus an adorable Christmas Tree Clay Pinch Pot here!

If you enjoyed this Rudolph salt dough handprint keepsake idea I would be so thrilled if you could share it on social media and leave me a comment! Thank you. Let us know how you get on with it if you give it a try with the kids!

[This post contains some Amazon affiliate links to help you find the products I love and recommend more easily. Thanks for your support!]