With Father's Day fast approaching here's an idea that is both cheap and a wonderful keepsake when kids are grown.
Putting your kids' handprints on either clay or even paper.Salt Dough Recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup salt1 cup cold water
Directions: In a large bowl, mix table salt and flour together. Gradually add 1/2 cup of water and mix to desired consistency. Knead the dough on a flat surface, adding a few more drops of water as needed (but not making it too moist).
Once the dough is made, you can divide it up into small portions to roll into 1/8" thick pieces with a rolling pin. Use cookie cutters to cut out a variety of shapes, and place the shapes on wax paper or other surface to dry. If you want to make hanging ornaments, pierce the dough through with a toothpick while it's wet.
Allow the shapes to dry for a day or two, turning them over periodically to speed up the drying process. You may need to re-pierce the hole several times during the drying process. After the shapes dry, you can use a fine grit sandpaper to gently smooth any rough edges.
Baking Alternative
Instead of allowing the dough shapes to air dry, you can bake them in the oven at 200 degrees F until hard. Baking times varies depending on oven and dough thickness. Make sure the dough is completely baked. You can cover the dough with aluminum foil if it starts to darken before completely baked through.
Salt Dough Project Suggestions and Tips:
~You can store prepared salt dough in a sealed container in the refrigerator for a day or two before using.
~Add color to the dough by mixing food coloring or paint into the water before adding it to the flour/salt mix. Alternatively, you can paint the finished baked dough with acrylic paint.
~Painted objects should be sealed on all sides with polyurethane spray or clear varnish to make them lasting gifts or keepsakes.
Here's an idea for puffy paint. It really puffs up and it has only a few ingredients.
Puffy Paint
For either make sure you put the child's name and the date.
And here's a fun and cute little poem you can attach to the paper or clay with a ribbon, raffata, etc.
