A Gift to (be)hold

Tonight is kids' night. These colourful salt dough creations will keep them busy for a few hours and also make great gifts for friends.

I am not going to give step by step instructions, as it is quite easy to make them and sometimes the fun thing about salt dough is that it takes on a life of its own.

Albert Einstein said: "Imagination is more important than knowledge." So use the photos as guidelines to make these delightful helpers.

They are all made from different sizes of dough balls, shaped, pinched and flattened to form the different body parts. To reduce baking time, form the dough balls around scrunched up aluminium balls.

Use cocktail sticks to attach the balls to each other and also remember to moisten them with water or egg white to "glue" them together.

You will need 3 to 5 pencils for the pencil holder. Make holes with the pencils and leave them in the holder during baking, so that the holes do not shrink. Just remember to take them out before the dough has cooled completely, or else you will have difficulty removing them. I used the tip of a pencil to "paint" the freckles.

The pencil toppers are formed directly onto the pencils. Lightly oil the top part of the pencils and turn them inside the dough a few times a day. Leave them to air dry for one to two days before baking. Let the pencils stand upright in a bottle to prevent the dough from flattening while drying. I also found it easier to paint them while they were still on the pencils.

Use a straw to make the eyes, toenails and scales on the dragon's body. The mouths were made with the point of a pen.

I formed the pinch pot around a ball of aluminium foil, but please take note of this - it is rather difficult to remove the foil after baking and I also left it too long in the pot, so I had to use a scissor to snip it and pull it out piece by piece. The inside of the pot is not smooth, but I rather like the texture.

I found some pens to make stained glass in one of my drawers some weeks ago and it is really good for fine lines, (although all the lines are a little wobbly - my eyes are not so good anymore). It also gives a raised effect which is excellent for eyes.

I just realised that I do not know what to call the purple "thingie". Maybe the kids can suggest some names? Here are some close-ups of them.