DIY Monday - Salt Dough Handprints

"If you mix water and flour you get glue, add eggs and chocolate and you have cake..." - unknown

I have decided to make my Monday posts into DIY / arts & craft posts. That way, I can chronicle all of the fun and exciting new things Brianne and I do over the weekend. I really want to be a more crafty mom too so hopefully this will make me stick to it.

This weekend we made some home made salt dough and used it to make hand print keepsakes. I have found several recipes online for salt dough but I decided to try this one:

Ingredients:

1 cup salt
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)
Food coloring (optional)

Directions:
In a large bowl, mix flour and salt together.

Add water a little at a time stirring often.
Once it starts to firm, knead with hands until a smooth dough forms.

If mixture is too dry, add more water.
If mixture is too sticky, add more flour.

For hand print / foot print keepsakes, find a curved plate or shallow bowl and press the dough in to the bottom and against the sides. Make sure the plate or bowl you choose is large enough for an entire foot or hand to fit inside as this will be the diameter of your plaque.
Gently pry the dough from the sides of the plate/bowl and flip it onto a flat surface. You should have a nice smooth area for which to use.
Have your little one then press their hand/foot into the dough. Try to limit wriggling and press firmly straight down into the dough. The beauty of this is though, is that if you don't get a nice clear impression the first time, just ball the dough back up and try it again. It took us several attempts.
To make a wall hanging, use a straw to make a hole at the top of the plaque. (You can also sprinkle a little glitter on the plaque to make it sparkle when dried.) Then put it on cookie sheet and bake at 100 -200 degrees for 2-3 hours (check often).
This isn't the best picture, but here is our finished, baked product. I hope after we paint it the handprint will be more clear. If not, we have more dough in the refrigerator!

These can be painted when dry and make excellent gifts for x-mas or Mother's Day. We finished ours late so we will paint and decorate it next weekend and have pics to post on our next DIY Monday post.