Salt dough is a cheap and fun way of making all kind of great decorations for yourself and friends. To get your imagination going here are a list of things you could make.
1) Photo frame
2) Medals
3) Hanging plaques
4) Ginger bread type people for child’s room
5) Door hangers.
I am sure you will be able to think of many more once you get in the creative flow.

Here are the ingredients you will need
8 heaped table spoons of plain white flour
4 table spoons of salt
1 table spoon of vegetable oil
8 table spoons of water plus a little extra
(Egg and water glaze optional)
Baking tray
Paint, Ribbon, Clear varnish very important!

Method Mix the flour and salt in a bowl then mix in the oil and water Knead the ingredients by hand, sprinkling water into mixture As you go, until the dough forms a ball. Remove from the bowl and continue to knead for about 10 minutes Until smooth and feels slightly warm. Now here I am going to tell you how to make a hanging basket to give you an idea of what can be achieved.

On a slightly floured board roll out the dough until it is about 1cm thick, Cut into 2cm wide strips, lay one dough strip on the baking tray and lay a second over it to form a cross shape, lay a third strip over the second parallel to the first. Fold back the first strip lay a forth underneath, parallel to the second strip lay strip one back You can see this forms the basket woven effect. Continue to lay your strips this way until there are seven vertical strips and four horizontal strips.

Make the basket shape by curving the outer vertical strips inwards at the bottom and fix with a little water, trim of excess dough. Roll out two finger-thick sausage shapes and fix to sides of the basket with a little water. To make the base of the basket roll out two more sausage shapes the same thickness and lay those next to each other starting in the middle gently twist them together to form a rope look, with a little water attach the rope to the base of your basket.

Now make another rope in the same way for the handle and another for the top trim again fix with water. Using a skewer make a hole on either side of the basket near the top this will be to attach a ribbon later. Here you may use the egg glaze BUT if you wish to paint your basket then do not glaze. With the rolling pin roll out remaining dough and cut out some leaves and also roll some dough into little cherry shape balls then arrange them at top of basket to appear it is full, again attaching with water. When you are happy with your arrangement place in your oven at 145c/ 290f/ Gas 1½ for 2½ to 3 hours, when done leave to totally cool.

Now you are ready to paint your basket, water paints are fine as long as you do not make the basket too wet. I find acrylic paint is better as you do not need to use water. When you have finished painting and it is dry you will need to cover in a clear varnish at least two coats, making sure the first coat is dry before applying the next VERY IMPORTANT, do make sure the whole of your work is totally varnished as uncovered dough will go moldy and will disintegrate.

To make meddles is easy and fun for children roll out the dough on a board and using cookie cutters to make the shapes make a hole in the top and bake the same as for the basket. Once your children have painted them it is a good idea if you do the varnishing for them. Then when dry you can thread a cord of your choice through the hole to make a necklace.

Sandra is a retired Primary School Craft Teacher, who excels in the fine art of crafts and has a blog with free craft projects for you to try out. http://www.findacraft.com

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