Suncatcher Heart Necklaces

It’s official we are pretty obsessed with all things suncatcher right now. Ever since we created our original Salt Dough Suncatchers I have really enjoyed brainstorming different ways we can combine salt dough and melted pony beads! It is just so much fun for all of us! Today we are introducing our newest creation. Our Suncatcher Heart Necklaces are the perfect Valentine’s Day gift!

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE SUNCATCHER HEART NECKLACES

Makes approximately 10 necklaces

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup water
transparent pony beads
parchment paper
cookie tray
string
2 cookie cutter (1 large, 1 small)

HOW TO MAKE THE SUNCATCHER HEART NECKLACES

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Begin by mixing together the flour, salt and water to make the salt dough. Roll out dough and make shapes using large cookie cutter. Use the smaller cookie cutter on the center of the cut out shapes. Remove the dough from the middle. Using a skewer or straw make a small hole in the top of the heart. Using a spatula carefully lift each heart onto a cookie tray covered with parchment paper. 

Set up a table with transparent pony beads  and the tray of salt dough hearts. Now comes the fun part! Have your children fill the middle of the hearts with the transparent pony beads. Try to make sure that there are no spaces left between the pony beads. This is a fantastic fine motor activity.

Bake at 375 degrees F for approximately 1- 1.5 hours or until the beads are melted together. Tip: It will look like nothing is happening for about 45 minutes. Then the beads will start to get a gummy texture and will then melt. Remember oven temperatures can vary it may take a longer or shorter amount of time. The salt dough will turn a light to dark brown color. Let cool completely. At this point you can either string them as is or you can paint the salt dough. I painted ours white. Next we strung some of the extra transparent pony beads on the string and then tied the string together to make a necklace. Our Suncatcher Heart Necklaces would be such a fun gift for Valentine’s Day!