SALT DOUGH ORNAMENTS
4 cups flour
1 cup table salt
1 1/2 cups cold water
vegetable oil
pastry brush
toothpicks
acrylic or tempera paints
brushes
spray gloss polyurethane or shellac
narrow ribbons
Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl.  Add the water and stir
until the flour has been incorporated.  Turn the dough out onto a smooth
counter top and knead vigorously for about 5 minutes.  If you don't plan to
use your Salt Dough right away, seal in an airtight plastic bag so that the
surface doesn't dry and form a crust.
Preheat oven to 225 degrees.  Lightly oil cookie molds.  Break off a piece
of Salt Dough and press firmly into mold, using the heel of your hand to
make the back smooth.  Make the Ornaments on the thin side as they will
bake more evenly and won't puff up as much.
To unmold the dough, hold the filledmold perpendicular to a wooden board
and strike the edge sharply serval times.  If the dough doesn't come right
out, rotate the mold and repeat.  Drop the formed dough on a baking sheet.
Lightly re-oil your mold, and continue until all of the dough is used.
Take a toothpick and make a small hole in your Ornaments so you will be
able to string them with a ribbon after they are baked.  Once baked, they
will be too hard for you to be able to make a hole.  If you forget, you can
glue ribbons to the backs of the ornaments with a hot glue gun.
Bake Ornaments in the middle fo the oven for 30 minutes.  To speed up
baking time remove them from the baking sheet and onto a wire rack in your
oven.  Bake unti they are dry and hard- about 1 1/2 hours more. Cool on a
rack.
Once the Ornaments are completely cool, spray them lightly with
polyurethane to seal.  Paint with acrylic or tempra paints.  When dry,
spray finished Ornaments with a good coat of polyurethane or shellac.
String with a pretty ribbon.
Lee Ann Hamm / E-mail Addy:  lee.ann.hamm@clickers.org
            http://www.premier.net/~lhamm
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 þ SLMR 2.1a þ "They're here, as I anticipated." Tarantulus, Beast Wars
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