As much as I love to indulge in macarons, decorating with them can be just as sweet! Especially during the holiday season, when there’s so many different ways to use them. From gifts and dessert displays, to holiday decor, the options are endless for this sweet cookie and my inspiration is at an all time high. I’m currently dreaming of a tree adorned with real french macarons, but until that day exists, these DIY macaron ornaments will have to do. They’re shaped with my recently designed macaron cookie cutter (find it here & here) and are almost as good as the real thing, without being edible of course.

The ornaments are made out of a baking soda and cornstarch dough, that’s simple to cook and shape. Drying is the most time-consuming part, as it can take up to 36 hours, but once the dough is ready it becomes a gorgeous blank canvas for painting macarons in your favorite colors and styles. I dressed mine up with Martha Stewart paints in pink, gold, white and blue, but the color options are truly endless.

Baking Soda Dough Ornaments – Macarons & Sweets

Print Recipe

Description

Decorative french macaron painted ornaments made with a quick baking soda and cornstarch dough.

Ingredients

Scale

Ornamnets

2 cups baking soda
1 cup cornstarch
1 1/4 cup cool water

DIY Supplies

Paint Colors of your choice + white (I use Martha Stewart craft paint)
2 paint brushes, 1 with a small point and 1 with a wide flat edge.
1 roll of thin clear plastic jewelry cord (find it at Jo-Anns or Michaels)
Tacky glue
Finishing gloss paint.
Mechanical pencil.

Instructions

Ornaments

Pour the baking soda and cornstarch into a pot.
Add cool water.
Cook mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly.
Once the mixture thickens and turns to a dough consistency, remove from heat and allow to cool.
When dough is cool to touch (about 15-20 minutes), dust a solid surface with cornstarch and roll out your dough, just like cookies- 1/4 inch thick.
Using your macaron shaped cookie cutter (find it in my shop- link in post) cut out your dough, and place on a parchment lined baking sheet to dry.
Drying takes 24-36 hours. You’ll want them fully dry before you paint them.
Drying them out in your oven is an option, but keep in mind that that can change the color of the ornaments from bright white to golden brown. I chose to wait it out myself and let them air dry.
Once dry, they’re ready for paint.

How to paint your Macaron Ornaments

With a pencil, trace the outline of the macaron onto the ornament, drawing the lines of the shells, feet, and then the filling last (see image below).
Now for the paint. I would recommend using 2-3 different colors for each macaron.
Mix your first color with white for dimension and use this color to paint the shells. Use a darker shade of the same paint (without white) for the for the feet, and a color of your choice in the center.
You’ll want to paint the shells first.
Then paint your filling.
Now you can add your feet.
Dip your wide flat brush into your darkest shade of paint on an angle.
Dab the paint onto the macaron in a tapping almost sponging motion to resemble the look of the feet.
Repeat these steps for all of your macaron ornaments.
You can experiment with a variety of paint colors to match the colors of your tree.
Once the paint has fully dried, brush a high gloss coat onto each macaron for a shiny finish.

Hook

Once all your macarons are dry, place a dab of tacky glue on the top back of each ornament.
Cut a 2.5 inch of plastic jewelry cord or whichever hanging material you choose (twine, string, hook), loop it and attach it to the glue on the back of each macaron. Be sure the loop is large enough to fit a tree branch.
Press firmly and allow to dry for 1 hour.
They’re ready to hang!

No need to stop at macarons! You cut the baking soda dough into all of your favorite sweet shapes by using cookie cutters of your choice. Find all the cutter styles below, right in my shop!

This is a fun weekend project to do. My girls and I painted them together and they absolutely loved making their very own ornaments for the tree.

These ornaments even make lovely gifts and look gorgeous strung through the ribbon for holiday packaging. They’d also be a fab activity to do at an upcoming holiday party.

This is a time-consuming project so be sure to allow 3-4 days (including drying time) to complete! Happy December!

DIY French Macaron Ornaments