My first attempt at salt dough........

[Dingle]

......is in the oven.

Well, I say first attempt as a few years ago I did try a few in the microwave that went disastrously wrong, all lumpy and bumpy and burnt at the edges. So this time I am using my fan oven!

I am not holding out much hope but we had fun cutting them out.

Any foolproof recipes or advice please? xx

This might sound a bit stupid... But how long do they last for? Before you have to throw them out, I mean...

Once baked, if you varnish, you'll never be rid of the things! Even unvarnished they last a fair few decades, just don't wear as well. I use a spray varnish, easy to apply in the garden and it makes a nice shiny finish once you've decorated it. In my DD's opinion this means covering it in as much glitter and sequins as possible.

We made a T Rex last week (DD needed one for school and I ran out of time) It flopped a bit, think I put too much water in it or maybe it's always a bit soggy?? And then I burnt it in the oven so it was a v v dark brown (told her it was meant to be like that and we painted it green so it ended up a sludgy green awful colour). So my advice would be keep an eye on it in the oven, oh and I propped up bits of it with triangles of paper that I'd sellotaped together so the smell of burning plastic wasn't too good either...

Thank you for the replies, it has all been a bit hit and miss! Spray varnish sounds a good idea, unfortunately I don't have any so I will have to make do!

I was quite happy with the consistency of the dough recipe, and the results were much better in the oven rather than the microwave.

I have had a few disasters decorating them so far but hey ho, they will certainly be "unique!" LOL

My first little star!

Ooh this thread has given me an idea for the weekend to keep my dc entertained thankyou.

Made them last year too

the microwave works if you have several plates to cook at once...do one for 2 mins, and then swap plates and do the next for 2 mins. Thus each gets 2 mins to cool down before you zap again.

We have a pretty garland of stars and hearts and a Merry Christmas (man I was losing the will to live before we finished the latter!!)

Package away carefully and they'll do another few years!

We have been making a Merry Christmas to hang from my Welsh Dresser shelves and vaious other things to hang from the tree. I came here to find out if it is worth making Granddad some bits to hang on the tree next year, as the DC are going to see him on the day after Boxing day. We have varnish, but it is the paint on kind. Is that ok?

Also (sorry OP to be taking over your thread) we have glitter. Do we glitter first then varnish, or varnish then glitter? It is glitter glue.

I have just done some more, and I glittered some first but found it quite tricky dabbing the varnish over the top, so after a while I varnished and gave them a liberal dusting of fine glitter before the varnish dried!

I have had a serious craft therapy and Lemsip day today and I am now covered in inks and glitter!

I just paint with regular ELC paint and liberally sprinkle glitter on top. If I'm being more ecomonical with the glitter I stir it into the paint first. I don't varnish.

I make tealight holders with a large star cookie cutter. The tealight fits perfectly into the middle of the star. Plunge it into soft dough to make shape and then remove it while drying. I give these to Sunday school teachers, dancing teachers etc.

Wow, that is a great idea! Thanks for that! Will be doing some of those.

At Pre-school, where I work, we mix food colouring and glitter into the dough itself.

I have blogged a few more HERE together with the recipe I used.

Love the idea of the garland.