Last week, Roy created a miniature feather christmas tree to be put on a table. You can see the instructions for the tree here. When he finished the tree, he was very impressed, but thought it needed some little decorations. So, it was back to the old home hints books, where there were many recipes for bakers clay to be found. Although many of the books had recipes, they were basically all the same, using a combination of salt, flour and water. Roy thought, if the recipe was so common, it must be good and indeed when we tried it out, it worked beautifully. So this week, Roy Creates Bakers Clay Christmas Decorations.
According to the old home hints books, this clay is called 'bakers clay' because it used to be made by bakers. The books said that bakers made little ornaments to sell at Christmas and Easter, tags for their products and little gifts to give to valued customers. Roy isn't sure whether this is true, but it's a lovely story!
You Will Need:
Note: I've halved the original recipe here. Make enough to suit whatever you are making.
- 3/4 cup of hot water
- 1/2 cup of salt
- 2 cups of plain flour
- A rolling pin
- A star cookie cutter (or a cardboard star cutout and knife to cut a star shape)
- A large needle or skewer
- Baking trays, lined with baking paper or foil
- Paint and glitter (or glitter paint)
- Scissors
- Thread
Method:
- Pour your hot water into a bowl and add the salt. Stir until the salt dissolves, or until the liquid is saturated with salt and no more salt will dissolve.
- Add your flour, a bit at a time, and mix until you can't add any more.
- Turn your dough out onto a clean, dry surface and start kneading, adding more of the flour as you go. You want to knead your dough until it becomes a smooth consistency and you may not need all of the flour. This usually takes between 7 and 10 minutes. When you have finished kneading, your dough will no longer be sticky and will feel like soft clay.
- Roll some of the bakers clay out to about 1/2 a centimetre thick. Use the cookie cutter to cut a star out of the clay. If you don't have a cookie cutter, cut a star shape out of a piece of cardboard and cut around this with a knife to make you star shape. Roy had extra clay so he made lots of stars!
- Make a hole at the bottom of your star with the skewer. This will be the hanger for you to put your star on the top of your tree with. Put holes in one point of any other stars you make so you can hang them up. Don't put the holes too close to the edge or your star might break.
- Next, roll little balls of clay. Poke a needle or skewer through the balls to make them into beads. When they are baked you can use these holes to hang your balls from your tree.
- You can make other shapes out of your leftover bakers clay. Why not try making beads for necklaces, or other shapes using cookie cutters. You can press a skewer through the tops of your shapes to make a hole for hanging them by. You can also model little statues from your bakers clay.
- Place your completed shapes on a baking tray, lined with baking paper and bake at 150 degrees for 15 minutes to an hour - until they are dry and clink when gently tapped together. You will need longer for big shapes and less time for little ones.
- Note: You will need to take your shapes out after about 10 minutes and reinforce your hole, by poking the skewer or needle back through. If you are baking your pieces for a long time (if they are big shapes) you might want to do this twice.
- When the shapes are cold, paint them with your paint and glitter. This will make them pretty and shiny for hanging on your tree.
- When the shapes are no longer wet to the touch, put them back on the baking tray and put them in the oven for 10 minutes at 150 degrees. Let them cool in the oven.
- When the paint is dry, thread a piece of fishing twine or cotton through the holes, tie the ends together and hang your decorations on your tree. Put your star at the tree top.
- Enjoy!