Salt Dough Hearts

Salt dough is simple to make and very versatile, but takes a little time to bake and decorate, so allow yourself a couple of days to make these.

Basic Recipe:

1 cup (or any measure) of plain flour

1/2 cup (or half flour measure) of table salt

1/2 cup (or half flour measure) of tepid water

Method:

Mix the flour and salt and add the water.

When it’s all combined and you can pick it up as a lump of dough, knead on a floured surface for 10-15 minutes, or until smooth, warm and pliable.

Roll out, cut and shape in any way you like.

Bake in a low oven until hard.

Cool slowly and decorate.

Tips:

Add the final quarter of water slowly as, depending on the grade of flour, you may need a little less.

You can add various things to help the elasticity. I don’t always bother, but I sometimes add a little olive oil (about a tablespoon to a pint of water) or if I’ve been making papier mache and have some made-up wallpaper paste lying around, I add a spoonful of that.

Use the kneading time as a time-out from the demands of life, the repetitive movement is very soothing.

Dough rolled out very thinly may distort slightly in the baking process, so keep checking and weigh down if necessary.

Bake at 145C (290F/Gas1 1/2) for one to two hours depending on thickness of dough. I prefer to leave my oven on its lowest setting and leave the door ajar to bake salt dough extra slowly … and to keep my kitchen warm and snug at the same time!

Simple Valentine’s Day Projects:

Candle Holder

Roll the dough to about 1″ thick and cut out a heart shape.

Use a candle to indent the centre of the heart almost to the bottom. (Roll a small piece of cardboard box and tie with string, elastic or use selotape to ensure it stays the same circumference and put this in place of the candle while you bake. Cover with flour first, shake a little flour into the hole and turn at intervals while cooking to ensure it doesn’t stick.)

When baked and cooled, decorate in any way you wish (see below for ideas.)

Passion Pebble

There’s a lovely story behind my little ‘pebbles’ … I’ll write a post about it soon.

Roll dough to 1/2″ thick for small pebbles or thicker for larger pebbles. (You can make these small enough to put in a pocket or large enough to make an efficient paperweight.)

Cut heart shapes and soften edges with your fingers.

Decorate in any way your imagination might suggest.

Hanging Heart

Roll dough to 1/4″ thick, cut heart shape and soften edges.

Add a wire or string/ribbon loop for hanging or make a hole with a pencil.

Decorate and embellish with some of the things suggested below, or just let your imagination go wild!

Decorative ideas:

Anything goes here, really!

* Paint. I prefer using gouache paints but they are quite expensive. I have used cheap acrylics here, but you can use children’s poster paints or even some leftover emulsion or taster pots.

* If you don’t have paint, you can use felt tips or crayons or even chalks.

* Whether you paint or not, you can write words with anything you have to hand.

* When dry, you can cover in a layer of papier mache (paper soaked in diluted PVA glue or a mix of one part flour and one part water) and bake again for 10 minutes or just leave out to dry for a while. I  made the hanging heart like this, covering it in pink tissue paper.

*Cover in fabric as an alternative.

*Decorate with buttons or beads (perhaps rescued from a broken or unwanted bracelet or necklace.) Add with glue or put on a thread and wind round your heart. It’s a good idea to have a piece of fabric on the bottom and sew your thread to it, to prevent any slippage.

*Glue on whatever takes your fancy or is especially relevant to your message. Try herbs or seeds or dried flowers for a natural theme. Sequins, ribbons and glitter give things a real girlie feel. Children’s stickers or pictures cut from magazines or photos would work too.

I hope this gives you a few ideas you can use.

I’ll try and write a couple of posts later with some suggestions for papier mache and patchwork Valentine’s gifts.

Have fun! x

Note: Salt dough is prone to going soggy if it gets damp. A few coats of varnish will help, but let people know to keep it dry. Keeping it out of direct sunlight is a good idea too, as it will help preserve colours.

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