The Gift of Believing

A Gift to Soothe the Senses

The potpourri holder was made by shaping rolled out salt dough over lightly oiled lids from empty baby food jars.Read more...

Make holes with a straw and use a cocktail stick to make patterns before baking the dough until completely dry in an oven at 75 - 100 degrees Celsius.

Let cool and remove from the lids. Paint as desired, seal with 4 to 6 coats of clear varnish, but take care not to clog the holes.

Put some potpourri into one of the dough lids and glue the two lids together. Let the glue dry completely, then glue a pretty ribbon around the potpourri holder.

Tip: I rubbed gold shimmer eyeshadow into the markings after I painted the lids and then just blew the eye shadow away. Some of it settled onto the whole lid and I liked the effect, so I did not wipe it off.

Gifts from Ancient Times

I have been wondering for a few weeks now where the art of salt dough originated and how long it has been used to make gifts and ornaments.

I could not find any statistics, but apparently salt dough modeling is a very ancient craft. Dough models were used in religious ceremonies as gifts to the gods and to important people. It was also very popular in Europe and if I look at all the French websites which features salt dough crafts, it still is as popular now as in the old times. (Click on the new link I have in the sidebar to take a look at historical figures made from salt dough.) Read more...

I did find information about the commercial Play-Doh which also began as a dough made from flour and salt, but the creator of Play-Doh added a "secret" ingredient and his product is still as popular today as nearly fifty years ago.

During the 1970's there was a revival of salt dough crafting and every home had at least one article made from salt dough.

While I am on the subject of ancient times, here is my very old Dalmation doggie still sleeping after nearly ten years, a little bit rough around the edges but so much a part of my house.

I found the instructions for him, his mother and brothers in an article that featured a birthday cake for kids in 1996 when the movie 101 Dalmations was again very popular.

The puppies in the birthday cake article were made from marzipan paste.

If any of you know more about the origin and history of salt dough, please send me an e-mail (link in sidebar) and I will post the link to the site so that visitors who might be interested, can read about it.

A Gift of New Beginnings

As the year is drawing to an end, I have begin to make new salt dough items, but they still have to be painted and photographed, and it is always a good idea to take some time off during the holiday season to recharge the "old batteries".




This poem from T.S. Elliot sums it up perfectly -




"For last year's words belong to last year's language,
And next year's words await another voice,
And to make an end, is to make a beginning."

Christmas Greetings for you all

I have a special message for all - wanted to include it in this post, but the page is too narrow to display it, so please scroll down to the end of the page for the message.

To send similar cards to your family and friends, please feel free to click on the "Free E-cards" link in the sidebar.

Enjoy your Christmas!!!!!

A Gift to Light up your Life

This tea candle holder is also another quick and easy to make gift.

Shape a rolled out piece of dough around a small glass or empty baby food jar, smooth the edges with water and cut out openings in the dough so the light of the tea candle can shine through it.Read more...

This holder was one of my very first items I made from salt dough and even after all these years, it is still in a good condition because I applied six coats of varnish.

I did not paint it but used a very fine brush to apply the lines on the holder. I used a craft knife to cut out rectangular pieces of dough, but you can also cut out circles, stars or any other shape you want from the dough.

Bake at a low temperature (75 to 100 degrees Celcius) until completely dry and then decorate as desired.

Potty Gifts for Plant Lovers

These quick and easy salt dough gifts will draw attention to any pot plant in your home.

Shape a ball of dough to form a hollow in the center. Make an aluminium foil ball and flatten it to fit inside the hollow.Read more...

Make the body from a flattened out ball of dough and position it over the aluminium ball. Smooth the dough to cover the entire aluminium ball and make sure there are no gaps left between the body and the "bed".

Use small dough balls to form the arms and legs as well as the navels and eyes. Shape a larger ball of dough into a face of your choice.

Use a cocktail stick to give texture to the body. The frog was supposed to be a tortoise, but the mouth turned out a little wider than it was supposed to be and then it just begged for a little tongue, so tortoise turned to frog.

Bake in a low oven till completely dry. Paint as desired and seal with four to six coats of varnish. Let dry thoroughly between each coat of varnish.

Caution: Although the varnish will protect against wetness, take them out of the pots when you water the plants so as to prevent them from being damaged by the water.

A name for a Gift

I received an e-mail from Victor and his brothers, Marno and Darius in Qatar. They suggested that the purple desktop helper should be named Spotty!! Thanks you three. Now I am waiting for your photos to see how yours will look.

If somebody else wants to suggest a name, why don't you leave a comment or click on the "Contact Me" link in the sidebar to send me an e-mail. I would also love to receive photos of the items you have made. Maybe I can begin a gallery to show your creations.

I did not realise when I started this blog that salt doughing is such a popular hobby. Did you know that the items are also sold on e-Bay? Click here for a peek.

Prickly Gifts for the Dining Table

I finally managed to put back the sidebar by following Peter's advice. The expandable post summaries will also be tried again but for now I think it is time to show you some cocktail stick/toothpick holders.

When I first told you how to make a rose (see my post of 12 November- Boxes full of gifts) I did not realise that I would get hooked on roses, but it is really so quick and easy to make and only takes a small amount of dough.Read more...

So here is my rose holder. Attach the leaves to each other by moistening one side of a leaf with water or egg white , flatten the tip of the leaf and press it onto another leaf, repeat for the third leaf. Flatten and smooth the center of the three leaves, moisten with water again and position the rose on top of the leaves.

Insert cocktail sticks and leave them in the rose during baking. Take out a few minutes after the rose has been removed from the oven.

The hedgehog was not supposed to turn out so utterly ugly so if you do decide to make one, try to give it a friendlier look, please.

Just shape a ball of dough and attach very small balls of dough onto the body. Make holes with a cocktail stick and then insert a stick into each hole before baking.

Two small balls of dough form the eyes. I used a drop of paint from my stained glass pens to give a more realistic effect to the eyes.

Tip: Make your own puff paint by mixing wood glue and finely crushed chalk.


I love coffee...... drinking it and using it to paint salt dough items.

This time I made a really strong coffee "paint" by mixing a tablespoon of coffee granules with just a small amount of water. It was quite sticky but gave the effect that I wanted for this little pinch pot.

The pot was made by shaping a ball of dough around a scrunched up aluminium foil ball. A thinly rolled piece of dough was flattened to form a cord and placed around the pot. (Remember to moisten with water). The edges of the cord were snipped with a scissor.

Use the point of a cocktail stick to give texture to the pot.

Remove the aluminium ball while the pot is still warm after baking or else the dough will shrink as it cools and you will have some trouble removing it.

Apologies to all my visitors

If you are visiting my blog today, whether you are a first time visitor or a regular visitor, you will probably see that my side-bar is not in it's usual place and that all my posts have a "Read more...!" option at the end with nothing to read more!!

I must apologise. I am trying to do expandable post summaries as all my posts are rather long. It worked fine when I tested it last night, and even this morning some of the posts did what it was supposed to do, but alas, here I am at the moment with side-bar problems and disappearing posts, so I have to "unchange" all the changes.

So for the moment I will leave my blog as it is while I am going to try and find out how I can get everything into working order again. Peter's and Sherry's blogs always offer good sensible advice for a "not so newbie anymore" as myself.

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.

Gifts for Gifts

So here I am back at last with something new to show you. It has been a hectic few days to finish work for clients, but I managed to paint the few salt dough "thingies" I made a while back.

According to my alphabetical list, I am now somewhere at the JKL section. Sometimes it can be quite difficult to keep to the alphabet and I think the other items on my kitchen table is near the end of the alphabet.Read more...

I have however decided to post them in the following days as Christmas is only a few days away and maybe you still need a few stocking fillers.

As the next alphabet item is J for Jewelry, I decided to use the bowl and lid as a jewelry box. Rolled out salt dough was molded over a lightly oiled glass bowl and baked in the oven on low heat until completely dry. The lid was also made from rolled out salt dough. I used the glass bowl to cut out a circle so that it would fit on the dough bowl. I then attached the rose and leaves on top of the lid and once again baked it until dry.

After the bowl and lid were painted, it still looked a little unfinished so I spattered gold paint over it. Dip an old toothbrush in paint, shake off excess paint and then pull your forefinger from the front to the back over the bristles of the toothbrush. Repeat until you are satisfied with the results.

I then brushed the edges of the bowl and lid with the toothbrush. As I used enamel paint for the rose and the spatter technique, the toothbrush was still wet from the paint but dry enough to leave just a very light touch of gold. (Enamel paint takes longer to dry than acrylic paint).

If you would rather try your hand at some jewelry, you can make beads, pendants, brooches, badges and even earrings. Use templates of choice and then attach pins to the back of the brooch or badge. Remember to make holes in the dough before baking if you make pendants and earrings.

Sweet smelling Gifts 2

Over the past few weeks I have used salt dough to show you how to make gifts and items for your home.

I have also given a recipe for play dough as well as an edible play dough for children and I think by now many of you have searched the net and found a few other variations on the original salt and/or play dough recipe. If not, you can have a look here at the "strange" ingredients that are used to make play dough.Read more...

Today I have yet another variation, namely aromatic or scented salt dough. Great for a quick gift and it does not even have to be baked and painted.

Mix 125 ml flour and 125 ml salt in a bowl. Add 2,5 ml of your favourite essential oil as well as 160 ml boiling water to the mixture. You can also add food colouring (drop by drop till desired color is reached). Mix the ingredients thoroughly and form different sizes and shapes to resemble rocks. Wear rubber gloves when mixing the ingredients (see Warning at end of this post)

The mixture will smell very strong at first but once the "rocks" have dried, the smell will diminish. Drip some essential oil onto the rocks if they start losing their flavour.

Make different leaf shapes by using real leaves as templates. Gather leaves with strong veins, roll out the aromatic dough and press the leaves on top of the dough so that the veins form patterns. Cut out with a sharp knife. Remove the leaves and lift up parts of the dough leaves to obtain a more realistic look.

Tip: If you have some plain salt dough in the fridge, use it for the leaves or rocks, let dry in the oven and then just put a few drops of essential oil onto them.
(The white leaves in the photo were made from plain dough - I dripped some oil onto them and left it to air dry).

Use the leaves to scent wardrobes and drawers, but make sure that the essential oils have dried thoroughly so as not to stain clothes.

Idea: Tie a few leaves in a bunch with a pretty ribbon and hang onto hangers.

Essential oil guide for every room in your house:

Bedrooms:

Camomile,frankinscense,jasmine,lavender, orange, marjoram, vanilla and rose for a good night's sleep.
Neroli and ylang-ylang for a sensual atmosphere.

Bathrooms:

Cinnamon, citronella, eucalyptus, lemon, lemongrass, lime, orange, cypress, peppermint and tea tree oil. Refreshing and boost energy levels.

Study:

Sandalwood, juniper, lime, patchouli, peppermint, rosemary and thyme.
Strengthen concentration and help to think more clearly.

Kitchen:

Lemon and citronella

Dining room:

Ginger - stimulates appetite

Personal spaces:

Sandalwood, bergamot, geranium, jasmine, rose, vanilla and mandarin
Lighten your mood and good for meditating

Patios

Sandalwood, citronella, eucalyptus, lemon grass and patchouli
Keep insects away


Warning: Take care when working with essential oils. They are highly concentrated and may cause skin irritations. If you do accidentally get some on your hands, rinse off under cold water immediately. Never, ever take essential oils internally, unless under medical advice.

Essential oils should never be used by anyone suffering from epilepsy, as any one of them could trigger an attack.

Avoid basil, clary sage, hyssop, juniper, marjoram, myrrh and sage if you are pregnant.

If you suffer from high blood pressure, avoid hyssop, sage, rosemary and thyme.

Some oils make the skin more sun sensitive, so do not use these when you're going out in the sun:-
Angelica, bergamot, cumin, lemon, lime and orange. Fennel should be used with extreme care as it can overstimulate the nervous system - an overdose can cause convulsions.

"Take time each day to seek out stillness, to find that sacred spot. Let your mind and soul be at ease. Don't grasp and grab for the magic and miracles. When you reside in that place of stillness, the joy, miracles and magic you're seeking will find you." - Melody Beattie

Sweet smelling gifts (1)

Incense stick holders can be made in no time at all and turns an ordinary box of incense sticks into a very special gift.

The colorful holder was made from the play dough I still had in the fridge. Roll out different colored dough, place on top of each other and roll into a sausage shape. Cut off slices and roll out again.

Cut strips of dough and shape the ends as desired. Make a hole with a cocktail stick and leave it in the holder during baking. (My holder is too narrow, so make a wider one to catch the ashes of the burning stick. A width of 4cm-5cm (1-2 inches) will work well) Read more...

The rose holder was made from small balls of dough, flattened out and assembled to form the rose. As it is very hot here in South Africa at the moment, the dough became a little soft and so I had quite a thick "stem" after I finished the rose, so instead of cutting it off to get a flat base, I shaped in into a little foot.

Use a cocktail stick to make a hole in the center of the rose and leave it in while baking the rose.

Duh::: - I forgot to take out the cocktail stick while the rose was still hot and had some trouble taking it out after the dough has cooled and hardened. The tip of the stick broke off and I had to use a sharp needle again to open the hole.

My son suggested I should make a "saucer" to catch the ashes of the incense stick and this tea sieve of my mother that she inherited from her mother, became a mold for the saucer. Do not forget to lightly oil the mold before shaping the dough over it.

I did not paint the rose holder and saucer. I played around with the dough trying to make different shaped holders and in the process of forming, taking apart and kneading the dough from scratch, it took on a color of its own. It reminded me of the natural clay my brothers and I used to play with when I was a small girl.
"Time flutters by like a butterfly, or stretches in endless yearning - time is the twinkling of an eye and a lifetime of endless yearning" (author unknown)