Salt Dough Part 1

With the cold weather , I thought it would be a good idea to make some crafts with salt dough . I will divide this tutorial in 3 parts :

                                 (1) Salt dough recipe

                                 (2) How to make a plaque and magnets

                                 (3) Painting and varnishing your items .

Part 1 : Salt Dough Recipe 

I did this project with second graders . But once again , it can be adapted for any grade .

My mom knows how much I love to create things , so a few years back she sent me a book on how to make salted dough projects . The book was a French translation of "Salt Dough" written by Cheryl Owen . The book contains a lot of amazing creations and is very inspiring . I love her salt dough recipe and that is the recipe I use whenever I want to create something out of salt dough .

Here is the recipe :

                               2 cups of flour

                               1 cup of salt 

                               1 cup of water 

You need to mix the flour and salt in a big mixing bowl . Then you add the water , little by little until your dough becomes smooth and firm . 

Be careful , if you add too much water , your dough will be extremely sticky and it will be hard to do anything with it . If you add too much flour , some cracks will then appear in your creations after you baked them .

Take the dough out of the bowl and knead it for at least ten minutes . By doing so you will eliminate the air bubbles . You may used the dough immediately , but it is better to let it rest about 30 minutes in a closed container in your refrigerator . 

And it is done . As a teacher or an art docent , you may choose to make the dough yourself , in advance . If you are a mom and doing this with your kids at home , you may want to have them  help  you out .