microwave your salt dough! dont blame me if you get addicted...LOL

[Tam's Tribe]

I couldnt help it so I painted them already...LOL


dont ask me why I made a fish too...but dd likes them...

I usually make a batch of these before the mindees come..and then use them as inspiration..template kind of thing...
they do their own designs as well..very different from mine but it seems to help them when they see what their finished product might look like..

and I also enjoy my arts and crafts...sometimes even more than the mindees I think...

Nicole, you have got me all excited I have to try and make this salt dough again!!! . . . just a friendly warning, prepare for the ranting thread again!!!

So 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of salt I can do . . . it is adding the water that is the problem for me . . . how much water do you put in i.e. how many tablespoons??? and do you have to knead for a long time??

(EDIT) Do you have to grease the plates, doesnt the dough stick to the plates??

Sorry to be so thick but I love doing stuff like this and my mindees will love it with the run up to Christmas and now we can microwave it, even my very part time mindees can participate!

[Blackhorse]

Hi Tam,
I love salt dough too...I actually just ordered an arts and crafts book for salt dough from germany...and I used their receipe which is really easy and nearly the same as the one I posted on the forum:

1 cup or 200g of salt
2 cups or 200g of flour

125ml water

you can add a drop of oil to your dough (1 tablespoon..I have done it this time and I think it helps the dough to be nice and smooth)

I put all the ingredients into a bowl and stir it with a fork until it gets all mixed together and starts forming clumps..then I use my hands to knead it for a bit..just until it forms a nice ball of dough and is neither sticky nor falling apart...maybe a minute or 2..not for a long time anyway

then I roll it out on a floured surface and use cookie cutters to cut out the shapes

I didnt grease the plates at all and the dough didnt stick...well it did stick a bit due to the moisture..but only for a few seconds after taking it out of the microwave...had no problem getting it off at all

you can then keep the dough in a sealed container for a couple of days...if it gets moist through storage just add a bit more flour and salt..if it gets to dry add a few drops of water...you will quickly see what consistency the dough will need to have ...

you need to be very careful not to overheat the dough in the microwave..it is really a matter of a minute...maybe 30 seconds more..depending on how thick you make your dough...so check every so often especially for the first couple of dough pieces until you know exactly how long it takes in your microwave..

Good luck with it..I am sure you will be fine!

Nicole
__________________

[babs]

stupid question i know ... what do u paint them with normal paints?

[Blackhorse]

stupid question i know ... what do u paint them with normal paints?

I used acrylic paints as I find the outcome nicer. they seem to cover better and you dont need much...but I think most normal paints also work.
Mindees once used normal paint on salt dough and it was good too!

Once painted I usually give them a coat of clear wood varnish as this keeps them nice and reduces any risk of moisture getting back into the finished ornaments etc
I also find it looks quite nice that way

[Blackhorse]

ok here are some 3D models from the microwave..

the snowmen and santa clause never changed their shapes at all

the candle holder a bit bit I still think it looks nice anyways!

I will change the snowmen still and paint them with white before drawing their faces...as I dont like the plain salt dough colour for them...not really nice like snow...

[Tam's Tribe]

Fabulous Nicole . . . u have inspired me hun!

[Blackhorse]

Fabulous Nicole . . . u have inspired me hun!

haha GOOD!!
It is soo much fun...I think I am actually addicted at the moment..but luckily so are the mindees!!
although we still do lots of other activities too....

[madasahatter]

Blackhorse- with the 3d salt dough models how long did you do them in the microwave and how do you tell they are fully cooked through? What wattage is your microwave? (may help people adjust their timings if they know they have a lower or higher wattage machine)

[Blackhorse]

ok microwave has 800 watts

I put them into the microwave for intervals of 30 seconds ...until they are nice and dry...that took about 3 minutes I think..
what I mean by that is that I check them every 30 seconds or so..maybe not for the first minute but definately after as everything happens quite fast.

You can tell when they are done as they change their colour a bit..in fact if you do it a bit too long they start to get a bit brown..(and then probably they will start to burn so you need to be careful)

I carefully touch them to see if they are hard...you can tell if they still have wet patches as it does look ..well like a wet patch..a bit darker and softish wet..if that makes sense.

they also start to smell nice..nearly like pop corn I think..when they are done..

you need to be very careful when taking them out as they get very very hot. they take probably 10 minutes too cool down...

hth

[Blackhorse]

oh also..you can do 2-3 same sized models at the same time..

[HelenJC]

Hi

I have just bought some small cutters from Morrisons - reduced to 49p from 99p. I did lots of stars, angels and hearts and then we painted them and put glitter on and threaded about 10 together (with knots to keep them apart) to make strings of christmas tree decorations - a bit like tinsel.

We are really pleased with the outcome - they look lovely.

Helen

[babs]

Hi

I have just bought some small cutters from Morrisons - reduced to 49p from 99p. I did lots of stars, angels and hearts and then we painted them and put glitter on and threaded about 10 together (with knots to keep them apart) to make strings of christmas tree decorations - a bit like tinsel.

We are really pleased with the outcome - they look lovely.

Helen

i got these too

question thou: post above says 1 cup salt (200g) 2 cups of flour (200g ) but wudnt 1 cup be the same so how come both 200g or is it just mistyped and cud u tell me right amounts please...

[Blackhorse]

i got these too

question thou: post above says 1 cup salt (200g) 2 cups of flour (200g ) but wudnt 1 cup be the same so how come both 200g or is it just mistyped and cud u tell me right amounts please...

salt is heavier than flour...so to make 200g of flour you need 2 cups...to make 200g of salt you only need one cup...

[babs]

didnt think of that lol thank you... was my blonde moment for the day

[jumpinjen]

You could try microwaving on a slightly lower setting than full power... it will be longer than 1 1/2 mins, could your patience stretch that long??!!

I once tried cooking the playdough models the children had made. It wasn't planned but they had made such beautiful animals that I just had to preserve them..... only thing was that the playdough was half cocoa powder to make chocolate play dough and fro somer eason in the oven it expanded and the insdies came out, so there were these lovely little figures, with what looked like giant poos coming out of the bottom of them... needless to say that the children thought they were hysterical and wanted to make more!!!

Jenni

[Pudding Girl]

Why can't I see the piccies?

I just made a batch of salt dough up but with half a jar of mixed spice that's gone off too much to bake with but fine for this - my house smeels like a giant gingerbread house now!!

I made a batch to test it and also so the littlies can take part and splodge them with paint tomorrow

Did you find out if making things like candle holders work Nicole?

[Blackhorse]

I had to take the pictures off as my storage was full...did that only yesterday as well!!

we made a candle holder in the microwave...it got a bit bigger but still looked nice actually

[Blackhorse]

here is the candle holder

[Blackhorse]

and her our snow men and santa