Salt Dough....Let your imagination run free!!!

There was much excitement to get started at today's class. It did take a few moments to explain to the younger members of our class that this wasn't just play-dough, we could keep the things we made and bake it. This did take a while to sink in, as I noticed they would squish up the lovely things they made and begin again, instead of putting it to one side for baking!

Each child was supplied with a board covered in greaseproof paper (taped at the back to keep it in place while they created. They were also given plastic cutting utensils, plastic knives, shape cutters, rolling pin and bamboo skewers. Also I supplied some books for them to look at for ideas.

Some of the ideas the kids came up with were fascinating.

Of course, our younger ones had great fun making play food, long sausage snakes, and cutting shapes to make decorations with.

While our older members created Name plates for their bedroom doors, some mini wreathes and gorgeous decorative pictures.

They learned some new techniques....

......wetting the dough with a bit of water on their fingers so that they could "glue" smaller pieces to larger pieces of dough.....

....making holes in the dough to put string through for hanging and placing balls of dough onto a skewer to keep the holes in while baking.....

We ended up with, slightly sticky hands, some floury clothes (my fault for leaving the bag of flour within easy reach!) and so many gorgeous things made! I took them home to bake slowly in the Aga oven I had temporarily "borrowed" space in.....

Here they are, moved carefully onto baking trays and ready to pop in the oven!

Can't wait to see them all baked and painted by the end of next week's class!

Salt Dough Recipe

There is no end to what you can make with Salt dough. From decorations, to picture frames, to even something as intricate as a decorative bowl.

Salt dough is a fantastic way to keepsake childhood art.

My parents still have some Christmas Decorations I made about 15 years ago (wow didn't realise it was that long ago!). Those pieces were varnished after they were baked, so they last longer.

However, I have taken to just baking and painting these days as varnish is smelly, messy and takes a while to dry. Those pieces tend to last a few years once they're kept in a cool, dry place with minimum humidity. But if you have some varnish, patience and are lucky enough to have somewhere to leave it to dry, please feel free to use yacht varnish or any other craft varnish.

I've been making salt dough myself since I was a child. I have half a library of books with various techniques and tips. I've tried and tested many recipes - some go too crumbly, some crack while they're baked, some are too wet. The recipe I use, is one that I came up with myself and seems to be working quite well.

If Salt dough is something you might like to try out at home, here's the recipe I use:

1.5 Cups Plain Flour

Half Cup Salt (Any fine salt will do)

Half Cup Water

Making:

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add water gradually, mixing as you go to form a dough. Add a little more or less water, depending on the consistency of your dough. Now knead dough by sticking the heels of your hands in, then rolling it over on itself - for about 10 minutes.

Just before the kneading.....This is how much Dough the recipe makes....

Baking:

This is the tricky part. You may leave your items to air dry in a warm place (hot press), turning frequently. However, this method takes about 3-5 days, depending on the thickness of the dough. It also tends to tend to crack.

Aga/slow cooker: I am lucky enough to know someone with an Aga that I can use. So mine went into the slow oven part at 150 celsius. Some items took 10 hours, other's took 12 - all depending on thickness etc.

Regular oven: I have never tried this, but one of my books says: 150 celsius oven 3 - 7 hours.

Tips:

* Dough does not keep in the fridge (goes sticky) or in the air (tends to go hard quite quickly) - So only make as much as you actually intend to use.

* Work directly onto the baking tray you intend to bake it on as some items are difficult to transfer once you've made them and may get squished. For the children, I cover wooden chopping boards with Greaseproof paper and then lifted the paper directly off the board and onto the tray for baking.

*I made 4 times more of this recipe for 6 kids for a one hour class and it was plenty to keep them busy.

* Varnishing adds a lovely professional look to items and makes them last longer - once you have baked and painted - use yacht varnish or any other craft varnish.

Hope you have as much fun with it as I do - stay tuned to see what the kids made with all the lovely dough!

Masks!

Creating a mask isn't just about the art, it's about creating a new character and bringing that character to life.

The children were asked to design a character that they would like to create - an animal, insect, creature, alien or what ever they could come up with! So out came their portfolio books and the designing began.

Next step was to give each child a blank template half-face mask - prepared beforehand by me from white card - as we only have an hour class and decorating is more important than cutting!

As I unveiled the table with all of the materials on it - much to my delight - the little ones exclaimed with various "awwww"s, "ooooh"s as they discovered:

Glitter glue, PVC glue, Glue-sticks, felt, foam, feathers, wiggly eyes, wool, paper and card in many colours, sparkly straw, faux fur...have I missed anything? Yes, I may have....but you get the idea!

Let the mask making commence!

I couldn't believe some of the ideas they came up with! It's brilliant to see their little imaginations going into overdrive. Most gathered what they wanted and sat on the floor to create, going back and forth to choose their materials.

There were many changes of mind, so things were added, then removed until they were happy with the result.

One girl decided to empty the entire bag of wool and blue sparkly straw onto the floor and sort through to find how many pink strands she could find! Now that's organisation for you!

Our little 3 year old was determined to glue as many items as possible to her mask front and back. I'm pleased to tell you that she succeeded, although I did have to explain that a full ball of wool would not remain glued and she would have to cut strands off!

Here's the front of her beautiful creation:

There are spaces for your eyes to look through in there somewhere....!

Here's a Bunny Rabbit complete with faux fur and whiskers:

An Alien with many eyes and sparkly orange cheeks:

Another multi-eyed Alien with feather & wool for brains - yes, they're his brains, that's what I was told!

And a bear with white fur, glitter & pointy ears:

Ooooh the colours! I wish we could have a parade!

We knotted elastic through the holes at the sides so that they could wear the masks on their faces.

Next week we will make Salt Dough decorations. We are all so excited about that!

Our first Crafting Class of 2011!

Kids love to make things that are unique, something all their own. Parents love to have things they can keep to remind them of their children being...well...little children!

In my art and craft class this term, I have been blessed with a wonderful class of six children, aged from (teeny tiny!) 3 to 7.

In our first class, we made a "Me Book" or Portfolio of their art work.

Because these were special books, only made by them, it was important that I provided the materials:

A book (with lots of blank pages to fill with pictures over the coming weeks) each, colouring pencils & pens, lots of shiny paper & pictures, glue

.

I was there for guidance and to help with suggestion of materials and techniques, but other than that, it was important that I stood back and let them create.

Some of the finished "Me books" for the little ones to be proud of!

All decorated and ready to be filled with lots of lovely pictures over the next 6 weeks....

Next week, we will make Half-face Masks.

Week 3 & 4 - Salt Dough. Week 5 & 6 - Papier Mache.

Call back again soon to find out all about how we get on and how we did things!