Salt dough crafts may be nearly as old as time…literally. Salt dough is often the mother’s version of fossilizing their children (or grandchildren) through out the years. I am no different. Salt dough is exactly as it sounds- a dough with salt.
- 2 cups salt
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup of water (I kept an extra 1/2 cup near by to help consistency)
- Food coloring or paint for color is optional
Mix in a large bowl. It will feel like a gritty play dough. It won’t be sticky, and will hold it’s form fairly well when shaped. Once combined, dump on a lightly floured surface and kneed a bit.
Divide your dough and shape as you see fit. The thicker the dough, the longer it will take to bake/cure. About 1/2 an inch should be deep enough to make your imprints, but not so thick as to take forever to bake.
A favorite is a heart shape that you then imprint little feet or hands onto. I went a little more basic. I did 2 larger plaques and 4 smaller round hand prints. PS, It took about 5 tries for each because she kept squishing with her little toes! Getting the prints is the most time consuming part!
Once you have your prints, get the dough onto cookie sheets. Use wax paper, or lightly flour so that they do not stick while cooking. Set your oven to 250 and bake your printed dough for at least an hour, or until the dough turns white and gets hard. Leave in the oven while it cools to finish curing.
After they have baked and cooled, you have a plethora of options. I was going to paint them, but I didn’t want to loose the detail in her precious little prints. Instead, I used some clear, gloss, spray paint that I had from previous projects. That is what I used to seal them. I did 3 coats on the front, and 1 on the back.
I used sharpies to write the “important information” on them. They will be wrapped and gifted along with the rest of the Mother’s Day goodies. I’m fairly certain this will not be the last time you see some salt dough cross this blog either….
The Nurtured Bee 