Bread Salt Dough Craft Recipes

[Diane Stafford]

2 level cups of plain flour (standard, not strong type)
1 level cup of fine cooking salt
3/4 cup of water

Not essential - you can add a drop or two of oil, which I find can be useful, depending on what you are making - adds a bit of stretch to the final dough.

I've seen recipes that include wallpaper paste - I've not used this option as I have never needed to try it out.

MIXING

Add the flour and salt together, make a well in the middle, just as you would to make bread, add most of the water to the well - keep some back in case the mix is on the wet side (the type of flour can affect this) add it towards the end if needed, NOTE: or sometime you may need more than the 3/4 cup - you have to add the amount of water your mix dictates.

That said - these amounts should be pretty spot on.

KNEADING
This is really important as you want a smooth dough, so knead the dough for between 10 and 20 minutes - the smoother the dough the smoother your finished items.

MODELING
Once the dough is smooth, make your craft item - stick any parts together with a spot of water, which acts like glue. If you want to add things into the dough - stick or natural embellishments etc, dip them into water first, then position or insert.

COLORING
Like cold porcelain paste, you can either add colorings to the dough at mixing stage, color small batches of salt dough, or paint onto the finished item.

Coloring - food coloring added at mixing stage - acrylic paint mixed into smooth kneaded dough.
Natural colors - spices, tea, coffee - all these are handy natural colorings to add to the dough.

DRYING
Salt dough can be air dried, however I dry them in the oven, it makes the items stronger and longer lasting. Place your made items onto paper baking sheets or foil on baking trays and put into oven at between 100-130 degrees (sorry don't know the conversions for gas).

If the heat is too high the dough can color - which is handy if you do want it to - but not when you don't :-)

Allowing plenty of circulation and leave to 'cook' - it can take a long time depending on the items you have made and how thick they are etc - they do however need to be totally dry - like bread dough - you can tap the underside of the item and you get a 'solid' sound to indicate it's dry (this is one of those things you will get more familiar with).

SEALING
A good quality polyurethane clear varnish (or tinted if that effect wanted). Make sure each item is thoroughly sealed - every nook and cranny. Any unsealed parts may draw in moisture from the air over time and absorb it - then can start to break up from the inside out!

Hope the above recipe is clear & helpful.

ttfn
Diane

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my secret tip
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make a batch with self raising flour - when craft models are 'cooked' they will indeed rise - this gives a 'cushioned' effect to the model - so it can be used for adding that type of effect to some complete model items or elements for adding to other plain flour based models.

Be Warned - you will need to test this yourself - so that you can see how much rise there is for your make of self raising flour. The level of heat also gives different rising rates.

It can be a really useful addition to your modeling with this dough.

have fun
Di
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[Kat Lees]

Diane I have a silly question but one worth asking. When I use sculpey I run it through the pasta machine many times to knead it. Can I do the same to knead the dough do you think? I guess it will be worth a try, what do I have to loose.
My hands give me alot of trouble kneading, so have to use the machine. Have you used this dough yourself in projects? Kat

[Diane Stafford]

Hi Kat
Yes I am sure you can knead it through the pasta machine, or if you have a bread dough attachment for a mixer?? Kneading can be a bit tiring for the hands, I tend to use the heel of my hands, if that might help, although do try with the pasta machine - as long as (like bread) the gluten fibres are stretched, it will become smooth.

I haven't used sculpey.

This little chappy is in the oven at the moment, you inspired a little salt dough making this morning :-)