Create delightful Valentine’s Day cloud dough with our simple guide! Enjoy a fun, sensory experience that adds a touch of love to your celebrations.

Crafting Heart-Shaped Cloud Dough for Valentine’s Day
My daughter was feeling under the weather. She loves doing crafts, hands-on fun, and baking. Want to guess what has all three? You guessed it! Cloud dough. She helped me mix up a batch and enjoyed playing with her new heart shaped cookie cutter.
What is cloud dough?
Cloud dough is very similar to playdough. It is nice because it is gluten-free, super soft, and requires no cooking like some DIY playdoh recipes. This easy cloud dough recipe is just two simple ingredients, corn starch and lotion. Both of which you probably already have on hand!
Gathering Your Ingredients:
- Lotion
- Corn starch
- Food coloring (optional, but essential in my humble opinion!)
- Wax paper or a baking mat
- Valentine’s Day cookie cutters
- Bowl
- Spoon
Mixing Techniques: Achieving the Perfect Cloud Dough Consistency
First, you’re going to add 1/2 cup of lotion to your bowl. Then, you’re going to add your food coloring. I used a gel food coloring, but I prefer the regular. If using gel, you only need a few drops. For regular food coloring, you will need more. Check your box to see the desired color you’re searching for.
Next, you’re going to mix your lotion and your food coloring together until well blended and it gets the consistency you’re looking for.
After that, you’re going to add your cup of cornstarch. Mix well with your spoon. It will become crumbly.

Mastering the Kneading Process: Shaping the Cloud Dough Cloud
Finally, you will lay your crumbly mixture onto a baking mat or wax paper. You will start kneading it with your hands. It’s super sticky at first, but becomes easier to work with after a minute or so. I found that once it is starting to feeling closer to playdough, it’s easier to pick up and work with your hands.
It can take about 5-10 minutes to get it just right, but I found that it was closer to 3-5 minutes. If after kneading for the full length of time it is still too sticky, add another tablespoon of cornstarch. If it’s too crumbly, add a tiny amount of lotion in at a time and knead it in until it becomes the right consistency.
Repeat the entire process for any additional colors you may want to use.

Troubleshooting Common Cloud Dough Problems
In the event that your cloud dough remains crumbly, more lotion is needed. You are using too much lotion if you notice that it becomes too sticky as you apply more. Knead in small amounts at a time. To achieve the proper consistency, you will need to knead it for a considerable amount of time. Add a small amount of extra lotion if it’s still too crumbly. Add a small amount extra cornstarch if it’s still too sticky. I have found though that the recipe I shared is the perfect amount, it just needs to be worked well.
How to store cloud dough?
It’s crucial to keep your dough as airtight as possible to prevent drying out and to make it stay as long as possible. To keep the cloud dough soft, wrap each color in plastic wrap and store it in an airtight container. You can knead in a small amount of more lotion if you notice that your dough has gotten a bit dry.

How to Make Valentine’s Day Cloud Dough
Equipment
- mixing bowl
- spoon
Materials
- lotion
- Corn starch
- Food coloring (optional, but essential in my humble opinion!)
- Wax paper or a baking mat
- Valentine's Day cookie cutters
Instructions
- Add 1/2 cup of lotion to your mixing bowl.
- Add your food coloring. If you using gel, just a few drops. If using traditional, you will likely need several.
- Mix your lotion and food coloring together until you reach the desired color.
- Add 1 cup of cornstarch to your mixed lotion.
- Mix until blended. Your mixture will be crumbly.
- Add to your baking mat or wax paper. Begin kneading. It will feel sticky at first, don't add more cornstarch until you need to troubleshoot**
- You want the cloud dough to feel like playdough. This process may take 5-10 minutes. It might be easier to knead in your hands.
- Repeat the entire process for each color you want
Notes
**Troubleshooting Your Cloud Dough
In the event that your cloud dough remains crumbly, more lotion is needed. You are using too much lotion if you notice that it becomes too sticky as you apply more. Knead in small amounts at a time. To achieve the proper consistency, you will need to knead it for a considerable amount of time. Add a small amount of extra lotion if it’s still too crumbly. Add a small amount extra cornstarch if it’s still too sticky. I have found though that the recipe I shared is the perfect amount, it just needs to be worked well.Want more Valentine’s Day Crafts?


