Should you put oil in salt dough?
Mix the salt and flour together, and gradually add the water until the dough becomes elastic, then add the vegetable oil. If the mixture is too sticky, add more flour, if it's too dry, add more water. Knead the dough until it's a good consistency, then use your imagination to make your art.
Pour 2 cups (256 g) of flour into a large bowl.
Add 1 cup (201 g) of salt, 3⁄4 cup (180 mL) of water, and 2 tablespoons (30 mL) of vegetable oil bowl. Stir thoroughly until all of the clumps have been removed from the mixture. It should gain a doughy consistency.
If your dough is too sticky, add a little bit of flour back in. Tip: Add extra flour to your kneading surface, rolling pin and cookie cutters to help stop the ornaments and dough from sticking. 3. Once you're done kneading, roll out the dough to about 1/2 cm thickness.
However, if you use a sealable container and add a small bag of silica gel – here's our affiliate link to the best silica gel we have found to use for storing the Christmas decorations our kids have made over the years., rice or even a marshmallow the moisture will be absorbed by these and will prevent your salt dough ...
You can personalize the fragrance however you'd like. Put 3-5 drops of your favorite essential oils on your ornaments! We like cinnamon essential oil or peppermint oil best, but any of the diffuser blends you enjoy would be perfect to use.
If the dough feels too tacky, add more flour. If it's too dry, you can gradually add more water.
You can let salt dough air dry or bake it, but microwaving it is the fastest way to dry the dough.
If you preserve your ornaments properly, salt dough can last for years. I have some dough ornaments from my childhood, so they would be at least 35 years old. They are still in great condition and there's been no disintegration whatsoever!
The great thing about it is that the salt dough sculptures will harden if you leave them out to dry at room temperature. Depending on the size of the pieces, it will take 2 to 7 days to dry completely. Turn the pieces from time to time for faster drying.
Dough that is too thin may crack around the edges and dough that is too thick will definitely bubble.
How do you make salt dough shiny?
Knead the dough, freeze it, then bake it for several hours and, once cooled, they'll be ready for decorating with cookie cutters, microbeads, craft paint, and glitter for extra sparkle. You can paint a coat of glossy decoupage glue over the entire ornament to seal and protect it, and to give it a shiny finish.
STEP 5: Bake at 250 for 4-6 hours.
This is to get all the moisture out of them. I flipped them twice, after about an hour or so each time. Ours seemed really hard and dry after the 4 hour point, and my grandmother {who was visiting at the time} declared them done, so out of the oven they came!
Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, until you get a even doughy consistency. Dough should not be sticky! What is this? Roll the dough (ideally to 1/4 inch) and make your keepsakes or ornaments.
Simply add the salt and flour together and mix to form a soft but not sticky dough. If the dough feels too wet you can add in more flour, alternatively if it feels dry just simply add in more water. Next you need to add your scent and colour. You can use any herbs, flowers, spices or essences and oils for your scents.
After cooling out the salt dough creations are ready for painting. If you don't have an oven (like in a nursery), you can also just wait until the salt dough dries out over time. This salt dough recipe works for no bake as well. It will take a couple of days until it's dry enough to apply paint on the crafts.
Diffuser Ornament DIY | HOMEMADE CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS
Oven dry the salt dough pieces.
Instead of air drying the uncoloured salt dough pieces, you can bake them in a conventional oven at 93°C (200°F). The drying time depends on the thickness and size of the pieces. It can be as short as 30 minutes for small and flat pieces to several hours for bigger, thicker ones.
Make it last!
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.
One of the most popular creative uses for kids is Himalayan Salt Dough, this has a similar texture to modeling clay and can provides hours of fun. Salt Dough is easy to make; the basic ingredients are: 225ml/1 cup of salt.
If you preserve your ornaments properly, salt dough can last for years. I have some dough ornaments from my childhood, so they would be at least 35 years old. They are still in great condition and there's been no disintegration whatsoever!
How long does salt dough take to cook?
Form dough into desired shapes and arrange on a lined baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven until dry and hard, about 2 hours.
Having fun painting the salt dough crafts - Poster paint works best on salt dough! After the salt dough creations have cooled down, you and your little ones can enjoy the fun bit of painting the creations. Poster paint works best.
Modge podge works great as a sealer and you can also buy craft varnish (glossy or mat) to seal dough. On its own will last up for a long time without sealing too, if you handle it properly! Sealing will add a nice look to them though, especially if you want them to be glossy.
You can make them a few days before using them. Store them wrapped in plastic wrap and then in a zipper plastic bag inside the refrigerator. Before using them, make sure they are back to room temperature. If they are a bit dry, just add a bit of water and knead.
