Salt dough magnets and plaques (Part 3)

In this third lesson , we will finish our plaques and magnets . As a teacher , art docent or mother , you have baked your  students art projects and it is now time for the finishing touches .

Materials needed:   * Old newspapers to cover the desks

                               * paintbrushes of different thickness

                               * old rags or paper towel to wipe your paintbrushes

                               * plastic cups (for water)

                               * acrylics paints of different colors

                               * gloss and matte varnishes

                               * paper plates (for acrylic paints)

                               * round magnets

                               * super glue

                               * thin colorful ribbons

Project :  (1) Each student will get their magnets and their plaque back .

               (2) Each student should get a little bit of acrylic paints of different colors . They should paint their magnets and their plaque . This stage should not take them very long .

               (3) Let it dry for at least 24 hours .

               (4) The teacher or art docent can apply some varnish on all the pieces .

               (5) Using the super glue , glue a round magnet on the back of the small art pieces to make the magnets . Let it dry !

               (6) Attach a beautiful ribbon to each plaque .

Examples : Here are the finished pieces I showed you last week :

 

Glass of lemonade magnet

 

Apple on a book magnet

 

Cactus magnet

 

Little mermaid plaque

And here are more beautiful pieces :

 

A head magnet

 

A green head magnet

 

An army shark magnet

 

A kid plaque

 

An Arizona landscape plaque

Here it is . This project is now done ! I certainly hope that you and your students had a lot of fun creating your very own magnets and plaques . Have a wonderful weekend :)

Salt dough magnets and plaque (Part 2)

In this second part of the lesson , we will make some magnets and a plaque . This is one of the most exciting process in this project .

Materials needed:
                               * Some salt dough we made last week  (give each student a generous amount so he/she will be able to make two magnets and one plaque)

                               * A rolling pin

                               * Some plastic knives (to cut the dough neatly)

                               * Some toothpicks (to make designs on the dough)
   
                               * Some plastic straws

                               * Small plastic cups for water

                               * Some plastic picture frames 5" X 8" (to measure the plaque )

                               * Wax paper

                               * You may want to have some flour handy , in case things get too sticky .

Project :
              Start by covering each desk with wax paper .

              (1) Each students will start by kneading the dough a little bit to get rid of the air bubbles .

              (2) Each student will then roll the dough flat with the rolling pin . He/she will use the plastic picture frame to measure the size of the plate . With a plastic knife he/she will cut around the frame . We now have the base of our plaque .

              (3) Use a plastic straw to make two holes at the top of the plaque (so we will be able to put a ribbon through later on , to hang the plaque) .

             (4) Now each student can decorate their plaque the way they want to . They can add flowers , ice cream , make a cat or a dog , or simply make a landscape . It is really up to their imagination ! When they add additional pieces of dough on the plaque , they should "glue" it by adding a little bit of water .

             (5) The student can add details to their design , by using toothpicks , a plastic knife ,a straw , etc.

             (6) Once the student is done with the plaque , he/she should set it aside on his/her desk .

             (7) With the extra dough that a student has , he/she can now make a couple of magnets , once again , simply ,using their imagination . They should just use the dough as they would using play dough . They can once again add details by using toothpicks , a plastic knife or a straw .

             (8) After the student is done , they should set the magnets aside on the wax paper .

Teacher's job :
Once every students are done with their salt dough art , it will be the teacher or art docent's job to bake every single piece . BE AWARE ! It will take some time . Use the oven at 350 F . The magnets could take about 2 hours (depending on their sizes ) and the plaques about 4 hours . Make sure each piece is completely dry on BOTH sides !!!!!!!!

Examples: Here are some examples of magnets and one plaque after they were baked .

 

A glass of refreshing lemonade . Look how the lines on the lemon and on the straw were added by using a plastic knife .

 

An apple on a book .

 

A cactus . This time the details were added with a toothpick .

 

A little mermaid . The mermaid , the flowers and the algae were all modeled separately and then glued onto the plaque by using water . As you can noticed , there is already a little bit of paint on this item , which bring us to our lesson next week  ,where I will explain how to paint and varnish the items . We will also add all the other finishing touches .