Salt dough adventures

When I first tried making salt dough with Boo several weeks ago, I was quite excited.  Here was a medium that appeared to offer something for both of us: the pleasure of making something lasting (as opposed to play dough) for me; and the joy of manipulating a soft, easily workable material for Boo.  I had been wanting to make some large scale beads with big holes for Boo to use as first threading beads, and this appeared to be a great medium for this purpose.  I mixed up the dough in a matter of minutes and all was going swimmingly...

     There was lots of exploring with pressing walnuts and pasta into the dough, just a spot of tasting (can't see the attraction myself!) and some big beads made.  However, when I removed the beads from the oven after they had cooled, they seemed rather soft and the next day I concluded that they would not stand up to toddler handling so discarded them.

Take two, and I try salt dough again.  Again, Boo loves it and is learning to roll out.

 This time, I try some flat cut-out shapes using cookie cutters in the hope that they will cook to a greater hardness.  I make holes in them with a skewer so that I can thread them up to be used in a hanging decoration in Boo's room once it has been decorated.

This time, the results are much better and my faith in salt dough is restored.  Now I can sand and paint the shapes for the hanging.  Hurrah for salt dough!

To make salt dough you need:

10oz (300g) plain flour

10oz (300g) salt

1/3pt lukewarm water

1 tbsp veg oil

Dissolve the salt into the water first, then add the flour and oil.

When you are ready, cook your salt dough in the oven at 210F/100C for 1.5 hours.