Create a hand-sculpted salt dough bowl with household products!
To create these little Knick-knack dishes, gather the following materials:
You will need:
flour
salt
mixing bowl
spatula
plastic knife
paint
clear nail polish or some sort of sealer
measuring cups
hot water
paintbrush
OPTIONAL: an oven safe glass bowl to use as a guide
PLEASE READ: this project involves baking your project in an oven and use of hot water when mixing your ingredients together. You MUST ask for help from an adult for this project! Do NOT use the oven yourself!
Bring all of your materials to a nice large space covered with newspaper. Measure out the following amounts of salt, flour and water and mix to combine.
-1 cup salt
-1 1/2 cups of flour
-3/4 cups of hot water
You may need to tweak the amounts depending on the consistency of your dough.
Mix all ingredients well!
Now get ready to sculpt! I keep a little bowl of water near me for smoothing edges and spread some extra flour on the surface I’m working on so that the dough doesn’t stick to it. Use a rolling pin with a light layer of salt or something cylindrical to roll out the dough evenly.
Use something circle shaped or square shaped to trace out the shape that you’d like your dish to be And carefully cut around it with the plastic knife. I made two different shapes! Circle and rectangle. You will most likely have a lot of extra dough so feel free to make a few varieties or maybe the adult working with you will make their own creation!
After you’ve cut your shape out, it’s time to form your dish! If you have a oven-safe dish like the one I’m using in my example, rub a small bit of oil on the inside of the dish so it doesn’t stick when baking. If you DO NOT have an over safe dish you can start to form your own dish but pinching the edges of the shape with your thumb and fingers. Add some extra dough around the edges and smooth over with a small amount of water on your finger tips. Don’t use too much water, only enough to ‘glue’ the dough together.
If you’re using the oven-safe dish method, simple press your cut-out shape into the greased dish and use your fingers to form it to the sides of the dish.
Make sure that the edges of your dish aren’t crumbly and thin. You should add a bit more dough and smooth it over with water if they are.
Now it’s time to ask an adult to help with the oven. The temperature should be set at 200F. If your dough is baking in the dish simply place it on an oven tray and have an adult put it in the oven for you. If you made a dish without using a oven-safe dish add a thin layer of flour to the bottom of the oven tray so it doesn’t stick while baking.
Leave your creations baking in the oven for 3 hours.
Once the time has passed, ask an adult to take the tray out and let your artwork cool COMPLETELY before touching it. Once it is totally cool it will be time to paint a base coat of white on the bowl!
Please handle your creations very carefully! They are delicate and need special care! Get your white paint ready and paint over all the sides of the bowl.
Let the white paint dry and then get ready to paint some bright patterns on your bowl!
Let your colored paint dry and paint a clear layer with either clear nail polish or mod podge or a craft glue that dries clear.
Let the clear coat dry and then you’re all set! Display your gorgeous salt dough creation somewhere where it will be safe from breaking!
St. Lawrence students, please send a picture of your finished artwork to stlawrenceartclass@gmail.com so I can display it on the school’s website!
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