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Salt dough is a wonderfully versatile material that can be used to create the greatest little gifts and clay sculptures!
We see so many salt dough ideas year-round and every time I look at some of the beautiful creations, that often involve handprints and footprints, I cringe because I know they are not going to last! It is such a pity to let those beautifully created ornaments and gifts go soggy!!
There is a solution!! Trust me on this one!!
Salt dough is made from 3 ingredients, one of them salt of course. Salt absorbs water, so left unsealed, the salt in the dough is just going to absorb the water from the air around you. In places with high humidity, your salt dough gift could be soggy in a few days!!
Let me show you how to make salt dough that lasts forever!
First make the dough, here is a great recipe:
- 1 cup salt
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup room temperature water
Add all 3 ingredients to a bowl and mix well. Once all the ingredients are together, knead like dough.
If it is a little crumbly add more water – 1 TSP at a time. If it is a little sticky add more flour – 1TSP at a time!
Once your dough is made you can play, design, sculpt and create as you wish.
Here are some salt dough ideas:
- Fingerprint Christmas trees
- How to make a pinch pot
- Salad spinner decorations
- Make your own tea lights
How to dry Salt Dough:
Once you have made or cut out what you want to make you can dry salt dough in two ways;
- Let it dry naturally. Depending on the thickness it could take up to 5 days.
- Dry it in the oven at 200 F / 90 C. Thin items will take about an hour, other items like our Christmas decorations can take up to 3 or 4 hours.
I usually dry ours in the oven because I have no patience at all, and then I leave them overnight to cool down and completely dry out!
They must be 100% dry before you paint or seal them.
Make it last!
Now that you have made your beautiful creation, let me explain how to make it last forever!
You need to seal it, preferably with paint and a sealer. However, if you want a natural-looking item and would prefer not to paint it, then seal it well – twice!
Once your creation is made, give it a paint with acrylic paints. You ideally need to cover it completely.
Once your paint is completely dry, seal it well. You can do with by painting on Mod Podge or use a spray sealer like this. I would seal twice!
Hope that helps!
