White clay ornaments {Christmas craft}

25 Oct 2013

A little bit of something different today on the blog. I don't often post about crafts. But here is a seasonal one that we did last year and was a big hit, so much so that we are doing again this year and giving some away to family.



I liked the idea of salt dough ornaments but they tend to crack when they dry and are not very appealing in colour. So I found a clay dough recipe on Pinterest which is so easy to make: 3 ingredients and the dough is a pure white.


It is really easy to make, takes just minutes and cools down fast to use with kids.

Recipe:
1 cup bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1/2 cup corn flour (corn starch)
3/4 cup of warm water


Mix the dry ingredients over a medium heat incorporating the water little by little. When it starts coming off the sides of the pan, it will look mashed potato. Stop when it looks like soft play dough. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes while you get the props ready. We did lay a cloth over the top not to dry it.


You can use cookie cutters, rolling pins, glitter, sticks, paint, stamps, anything you like to embellish them. We used straws to make a tiny hole on the top. If you find it a little sticky, use a bit of corn starch to loosen it.


We dried them for an hour on a low oven at 100 degrees C (or 200 F) for an hour. They could actually have stayed a little less time. But they dry just as nicely left out for a day or two. The thinner they are, the better they will dry out.


We made ornaments for our tree but also used some for gift wrapping.


10 comments

  1. Where and how did you find baking soda here in the Netherlands??

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    1. Jessica, i am in Germany. Here you can buy it in the exotic products section in supermarkets!

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    2. I found this that may help http://blogcakeislove.blogspot.de/2011/08/baking-powder-vs-baking-soda.html

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    3. Oh, okay -- thanks! I will try to look in some "exotic" places here too :)

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    4. Jessica, try looking for Sodium bicarbonate ( in Dutch= natriumbicarbonaat ). It should look like this and besides "natuurwinkels" you should be able to also find it in normal supermarkets like Delhaize, Carrefour ..I know as i'm from Belgium where we have kind of the same things as in NL :-)

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  2. In France we find baking soda in the cleaning section! I'm so used to finding it in the baking section in the UK! This is a great idea I can't wait to start making decorations with the boys.

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  3. I found this other way to do ornaments from salt dough (no baking soda ), but I didn't try it myself so don't know what is the difference from the one of Annabelle.

    Salt dough recipe:
    1 cup salt
    1 cup plain flour
    Half a cup of warm water
    Mix together into a large bowl and knead it until smooth and stretchy. This last part is important otherwise the dough remains sticky and quite granular from the salt. If it is still too sticky add a bit more flour, if too dry and crumbly then add a tiny touch more water.

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    Replies
    1. This is cool too but does not really make a white dough. It looks more like yellowish.

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  4. I see, so I guess you you'd need to paint to to have it nice looking :-)

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  5. I have never been brave enough to try this, but you have inspired me! They turned out beautifully, and I love the idea of using them for gift wrapping! And that's funny to read the other comments. It is so common here in the US, I never would have thought of baking soda as being "exotic" or difficult to find! Thanks for sharing at the Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop.

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