crafty fun with salt dough

I've been having lots of fun with my niece over the last few days. Yesterday we made a big bowlful of salt dough and spent a few hours using it all up. We created wall hangings, mobiles and ornaments with the sun streaming through the window and the radio playing in the background. It was a lovely morning.

The recipe we used was:
2 mugs of flour
1 mug of salt
approx 12 fl oz lukewarm water

You mix the ingredients together adding just enough of the water to make a supple but not too sticky dough. Then you knead the mixture for 10 minutes.

To stick bits together we made a 'slip' with a bit of dough and some water.

We used skewers to make holes through which wire could be passed. We also used bits of wire with the ends curled into little loops and pushed into the dough to make hangers, and pieces of scrunched up tinfoil as armatures.

Then the whole lot goes into the oven at 150 degrees c for a few hours until it makes a ringing sound like pottery when tapped. When it's cool you can paint it (preferably with acrylic paint) and with a couple of coats of varnish it can last for many, many years.

**Edit** Nà , You can find a couple of photos of salt dough christmas decos I made here and here and here.