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Salt Folk Art: How To Make Beautiful & Lasting Objects From Flour, Salt & Water 
Salt dough crafts are becoming more popular, partly because salt dough is an inexpensive, non-toxic modeling medium that is easy to make at home.
This well recommended book by Cheryl Owen has rave reviews from readers. It features forty orignal step-by-step salt dough projects, including citrus fruit plates with oranges and lemons so realistic they look ready to pick up and eat. Try making a sun plaque, a court jester, gingerbread heart, folk angel, or fruit-filled cornucopia. Metal embedded bowls, a checkerboard covered with lizards, or a cowboy theme clock are wonderful decorations for contemporary homes.
Salt dough is an ideal medium for children and this book offers how-to's for animal finger puppets or fun dinosaur models.
All techniques, from kneading, coloring, drying and baking, painting, glazing and varnishing are clearly explained, along with hints on how to use household items such as scissors and wire to create fantastic effects.
Salt Dough Folk Art Projects
The art of making objects using salt dough has become very popular in recent years with the only requirements to get started in this folk art hobby are flour, salt, water and basic equipment found in the kitchen.
These include:
A bowl to mix your dough
A rolling pin for producing smooth sheets of dough
A grater for making decorative imprints on your dough
A garlic press for making strands for hair and foliage
Toothpicks or a small pointed knife for cutting and indenting details
An assortment of pastry cutters and moulds for decorative shapes
To make your salt dough I have found the following recipe to be a good all round recipe for most projects:
Basic Salt Dough
2 Cups of Plain Flour (not self-raising)
1 cup Fine grained plain salt
1/2 cup water at room temperature
Mix the salt and flour in a large bowl and then add the water. Knead the mixture for about 5-10 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic. Cover with cling wrap to stop the dough drying out and let the dough sit for 30 minutes before using.
To improve the elasticity of the dough add dry wallpaper paste to the basic mixture.
The addition of 1-2 teaspoons of vegetable oil improves suppleness of the dough making it easier to work with.
Two other recipes that I often use, depending on the project I am working on, include:
Fine dough
This recipe is good for filigree work
2 Cups flour
1 cup salt
100g cornstarch
1/2 cup water
Firm dough
Firm dough is good for making tile and plate objects.
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 tablespoons wallpaper paste
1/2 cup water
Make these recipes up the same way as the basic recipe.
Fresh dough is best for modelling. However, if you find you have any leftover dough it can be wrapped in cling wrap or an airtight container and stored in a cool place for a few days.
Different coloured dough's can be made using...
- Food colouring (red, green, blue, or yellow). Two or more food colours can be combined to make different colours and shades or for a marbled dough effect.
- Add spices that act as natural dyes e.g. cinnamon, curry powder, saffron or paprika.
- Add cocoa powder or instant coffee for different hues of brown.
- Wearing protective gloves add a little paint to the mixture then knead the dough until the paint is uniformly distributed through the mix.
The dough is now ready to use and the next step is to shape your project.
For flat or rolled projects it is best to roll out the dough straight onto a baking sheet then it can be put straight into the oven.
Models or larger pieces can be assembled on a piece of hardboard that has been oiled with vegetable oil to prevent it sticking to the board.
When finished and happy with your results you have a choice of Air Drying or baking your project in the oven. Ensuring your projects are correctly dried ensures they will last a long time so it is important that this is not hurried.
Air drying is suitable for flat, small pieces or for coloured pieces where baking will alter the colour of the finished project.
Oven drying is the most popular method and requires careful attention to accurate temperature control to avoid burning. Bake for approx 2 hours using a low temperature setting 50-70C for the first half hour then increase temperature slowly to 90-100C and cook until the piece is uniform in colour.
While baking if any air bubbles appear pierce the bubbles with a pin and gently depress the dough. If the dough starts to darken before cooking is complete cover with a piece of aluminium foil.
The dough is cooked when it hard and sounds hollow when tapped. Turn the oven off and leave in oven until cool.
Any burns can be sandpapered off with fine- medium grade sandpaper. An Emery board or small file can be used for delicate or intricate sanding on objects.
Your finished projects can be left unpainted but they must be sealed on all sides (including underneath) with varnish, gloss or matt, for protection otherwise they will not last long when exposed to air.
When thoroughly dry sand any imperfections. At this stage you can paint your projects then seal with a final coat of varnish.
Brightly coloured pieces will look more vibrant painted with a glossy finish and neutral muted colours are suited to a matt finish.
Using a polyurethane varnish on food coloured models instead of water- based varnish helps to intensify the colour.
About the Author:
Jill is a writer for Netwrite-Publish Home and Garden. For more home and garden articles on a variety of topics visit her site online at http://www.netwrite-publish.com
Thanks ;) I made salt dough but i dunno wot to model now :D HELP!
I have a project at school that I have to teach the class to do something i chose salt dough pinch pots. I did a run through at home and this helped. Thank you so much
i cant believe it dosent let you copy and paste
I use the basic recipe that is shown here with great success. It usually takes me a little more than a half cup of water to make the right consistency. I put mine in the oven at 200 degrees and can leave them there 2 or 3 hours with no worries of burning. If you are working with children, consider sealing the ornaments with Mod Podge (or a like product) which will have less fumes for working indoors, be less toxic and cleans up easier than normal varnishes. It comes in gloss and mat. This year I used the Mod Podge that has glitter in it on my natural pieces. The glitter in it is very fine, so it is not gaudy and it picks up the light from the lights on the tree which makes it look prettier. The Mod Podge also dries pretty fast, so if you don't have a place to hang the ornaments while the first side drys, you don't have to wait a long time before sealing the second side. I painted some accents on a few of mine after they were sealed with the Mod Podge and dried and the acrylic paint went on very smoothly. If you plan to use them year after year, you might consider re-sealing them every year or two.
What is the best reciepe to make the ornaments, I tried the microwave ones and it didn't work out to well. Does air drying work as well as baking it?
I , too, tried the microwave recipe for Christmas ornaments and found that they developed air bubbles. I noticed that one recipe specified (not self rising flour). I used all purpose flour. Could this be the problem?
Thank-you will be baking a gag gift for my friend of "yule do" to hang on his tree I think the coffe colour is great!!!LOL Cheers and thanks!!!! I'm sure he will love his funny gift!!!!
He he he Merry Christmas..
Thank You very much! I 'm so happy I found this recipe as I used it years ago and lost it! Our children and nabours children made lots of there owen creations with this recipe!! now I'm going to make some wonderful christmas ornaments! Thanks Again
hi im thinking about turning this into a project with my daughter. i want her to make ornaments for all the people in my family and give them as gifts. one ? though i have is....does it have to be finished with varnish or gloss even if its painted in the end???
The varnish does help to protect the finished salt dough ornaments from damage from moisture. They do sell some nice craft varnish now, in ordinary craft paint bottles, in matte or shiny finish. Just apply as you would craft paint with a paint brush.
By the way, my daughter also did this for her grandparents one year; she's grown up now but we still look forward to seeing them on the tree.
