Salted dough turned out to be a suitable basis for the production of souvenir decorations, panels and wall paintings. Availability three simple and available ingredients: salt, flour and water, it is an unsurpassed composition for unusual creative discoveries. When bringing another masterpiece to life, there is a need to give the product a finished look. Decorate the room with a beautiful painting, give it as a souvenir to a friend, or place it on a shelf or nightstand.

A logical question arises: what to do so that the product does not fall apart and retains its shape for a long time? for a long time. This process is called drying. How to properly dehydrate crafts?

In natural conditions

— Place the item in a dry, sunny place. It’s good if there is constant circulation of fresh air.

The drying method is economical and does not waste thermal and electrical energy. The disadvantage of this method is that canning does not take place immediately and may take several days. Drying in the oven of an electric stove.

The progress of dehydration accelerates.

— Place the product in the oven on a metal tray.

Approximate order:

- heating at 75 degrees will allow the work to dry in 2 hours,

— temperature regime at 100-125 degrees – in one hour,

- heating to 150 degrees - in half an hour.

— There is a need to give the creation a brown tint, increase the heating to 200 degrees, continuously maintaining control over the canning. For large items, the drying time period increases.

1. Carry out control measurements of the time and temperature system for drying products to avoid defects. Make pancakes different sizes and carry out the entire technological process.
2. Before placing the pan in the dryer, cover it with foil material so that the dough mixture will not stick to the pan.
3. Place the baking sheet on top. Dry until a blush appears on the side surface of the product to avoid deformation when removing. Move the gutter to the middle oven and continue firing until the required condition.
4. At the right time, turn the sculptures in the dryer for uniform heating, baking and tinting.
5. Deformation of products indicates overheating.
6. Bulges cannot be corrected; cracks can be repaired with a putty made of water, flour and PVA glue.
7. Cool the item. When hot, the product is fragile and requires gentle handling. Using a gas stove.

The technological operation of drying is 2 times faster.

— First, dry the creative work for about two days in natural conditions,

- Carefully transfer to a metal tray.

- bring it into the gas chamber.

— start heating at 50 C, gradually increase heating to 150 C.

Attention. When drying, be sure to open the oven door slightly; closed heating leads to the formation of blisters on creative products. Approximate schedule:

• hour - heating with the door half open,
• one hour - the door is a quarter open,
• hour - closed.

To give an object a chocolate color, add gas and do not let it burn.

On heating system registers

The indicated method is convenient during the cool period with the beginning of the heating season. Heating registers in the room keep the temperature high.

- Transfer the craft to a cloth or wrapper,

- install on the battery,

- let it dry,

- a significant drawback - cracks may appear.

Complex drying

This option is suitable for drying large and bulky items.

- Dry in air for a number of days,

- Continue drying in the oven.

Drying with high-temperature air in the grill

Specific heat is produced by thermal furnaces, where
It is possible to carry out both drying and firing of the creation at the same time. The procedure is carried out under the influence of hot air evenly from all sides. The productivity of the operation increases as it becomes possible to load more trays with goods by saving electrical energy.

At home, the role of drying ovens will be performed by a regular grill. To operate a household appliance, it does not require as much heat energy as an electric stove.

microwave

A microwave is not suitable for the role of a drying unit. A strong radiant flow quickly swells the surface layer of objects made of salty mass.

Determining the end of the dehydration process

- Tap the dried form on all sides with your finger or a stick,

- a dull sound indicates that the model has not dried out, there are damp areas left, prolong drying.

— A ringing sound indicates that the dehydration procedure is complete and the plaque is ready for further processing.

Getting brown shades

The forms are completely dried. It is necessary to give the models a brown color or brown them:

- place the item in the heating cabinet, set the temperature regulator to 200 C, start warming up,

- monitor the progress of staining,

- the operation has provided the desired result, finish heating,

— often the surface is heated unevenly. Cover up dark spots aluminum foil, continue heating to the required condition.

Advice. A simple test will help you find out what the craft will look like after “tinting” and how long to extend the firing:

- moisten the brush with water and coat the craft on all sides,

- this action imitates varnishing and will show the need to stop the firing procedure or continue to saturate the tonality under the influence of temperature.

Varnishing gives the color richness.

1. After drying and painting the creative work, it is necessary to coat it with varnish. The varnish can be colorless or have a matte tint. Which one to use depends on the taste of the manufacturer. Varnishing will protect the work from damage and moisture.
2. Make a note! If the dough is colored, dry it at a temperature not exceeding 125 C, as the paint color may change. When cocoa bean powder is added to the dough, temperature does not significantly affect the color change of the product.
3. Dry decorative jewelry made of beads, rhinestones, beads, observing the optimal temperature regulation, not exceeding 120 C.

I found a useful article a long time ago, unfortunately I don’t know the author. Recipes and tips for making salt dough

What do you need for work?
For the dough General recipe:
Flour - 2 parts,
“Extra” salt – 2 parts,
water (necessarily cold) – 1 part,
plastic bag for storing dough,
Eat different recipes salt dough. For example, in one of them vegetable oil is added to the dough. However, in this case the products leave greasy marks. Some recipes suggest adding vinyl glue to the dough. You need to be very careful with dough prepared according to this recipe, especially if you are working with small children. After all, glue is toxic, and kids love to try everything. Our recipe consists of 100% environmentally friendly and therefore safe materials.
It should immediately be noted that to work with salt dough You need a certain temperature in the room. The optimal air temperature is 20°C. If the temperature is higher, the dough dries out quickly, making it difficult to process and join the parts.
To work with the test you will need:
a jar of water to wet your fingers and brushes,
stacks,
plastic knife,
modeling board,
rolling pin for rolling out dough,
brushes,
paints,
toothpicks,
spadefoot (for styling “hairstyles”)
nail scissors with rounded ends.
You may also need many other useful things, such as cocktail tubes, food foil, transparent pill boxes, beads, black peppercorns, felt-tip pen caps, and more.
First recipe

Wheat flour - 2 cups
“Extra” salt - 1 glass
Water -3/4 cup
Second recipe

Wheat flour - 1 cup
Salt - 2 cups
Dry wallpaper glue - 1 spoon
Water - about 1 cup

Pour salt into a wide bowl, add water, then flour. Mix everything well. Or mix salt and flour well, gradually adding cold water until a homogeneous mass is obtained. The prepared dough should not stick to your hands or crumble. The dough should be elastic and quite stiff. Place it in a container or plastic bag to keep it from drying out.
Long shelf life ready dough undesirable, because in this case its original color is lost: it becomes grayish. Although such stale dough can be used to decorate parts of clothing or small decorations.
Adviсe
If the dough crumbles during kneading, add a little water. If it sticks to your hands, use a little flour.
Salt dough left open dries very quickly when exposed to air, so keep the container with the dough closed. Place the rest of the unused dough in the refrigerator, where it can be stored for a day or two.
Advice
Don’t rush to buy everything at once; the bare necessities are enough to get started. Gradually, more and more tools and various devices will appear. The most important and main tools will be your skillful hands!

HOW TO DRY A CRAFT FROM SALT DOUGH

On outdoors at room temperature
You can dry the craft outdoors in a dry place. The thicker the product, the longer it will take. But this method is the most economical.
Air drying is convenient in the summer, for example at the dacha. However, keep in mind that air drying will create indentations on the surface of the product that is in contact with the table.
In the oven (gas or electric stove)
To dry the finished product, carefully, using a wide knife or spatula, transfer it from the work table to a baking sheet sprinkled with flour, being careful not to damage it during transfer.
Dry the craft for two days, first in the open air, then in the oven at a temperature of 50°C, gradually increasing the temperature, but not higher than 150°C. If the temperature is too high, the product may swell, sometimes even cracks appear. Swollen crafts cannot be fixed, and cracks are easy to cover up. To do this, dilute a little flour with water, add PVA glue, mix well and apply this mixture to the crack, then rub the mixture into it with a stick or your finger.
The product should not remain damp. Its readiness is determined by its sound. By knocking on finished product finger, you will hear a ringing sound. If the sound is dull, the product needs to be dried.
For large items, you can use combined drying: first for several days in the air, then in the oven.
Drying time in an electric stove oven

1 hour - at t 50°C
1-2 hours - at 75°C
1 hour - at t 100-125°C
0.5 hours - at t 150°C
Larger pieces will require more time to dry.
It is difficult to calculate exactly the time it will take to dry crafts in the oven. All ovens are slightly different. Therefore, to reduce the frustration of ruined work, make several samples, for example, make cakes of different thicknesses and dry them in your oven, changing the temperature.
After drying the salt dough figures in the oven, cool them. While the items are hot, they are very fragile, so handle them with care.
On the heating battery
This method is very convenient to use in winter, when the central heating radiators are well heated. Place the craft on foil or cloth and leave it on the radiator until completely dry.
Adviсe
1. To ensure that the crafts are well preserved, after they are dried and painted, coat them with transparent liquid varnish. This will reliably protect them from moisture. If you don't like mirror shine, then use matte varnish.
2. Using a microwave oven for drying is not recommended.
MODELING PRODUCTS FROM SALT DOUGH
It is convenient to connect the parts using a brush and water. Water in this case plays the role of glue. Apply a small amount of water with a brush to the surfaces of the parts to be joined and gently press them together, being careful not to crush them. If there is too much water, the dough may spread.
There are several basic sculpting techniques. The production of almost all elements is based on a ball and a sausage.
To decorate products made from salt dough, many different small elements are used: flowers, ribbons, berries, leaves, braids, etc.
To make leaves, you need to roll out the sausage, cut it into equal parts - cylinders, which should then be rolled into a ball. The ball should be flattened into a cake and a sheet should be formed with the thumb and forefinger. The veins can be drawn using a toothpick.
Roses can be made from thinly rolled ribbon carefully wound around a toothpick. At the same time, the desired size and shape of the flower is formed.
When making figurines of people, the basis is a sausage, which must be given a cone shape. To sculpt the head, use a dough ball of the required size. It is better to cut out more complex flat elements or figures from rolled dough using a pre-made template.

Taken from the Internet.

If you have to dry a craft for the first time, it will be useful to learn some subtleties. First of all, you need to understand the difference between drying and baking. It is a mistaken belief that an oven – electric or gas – is only suitable for baking. You can also dry the dough in it. It is important to know how and for how long.

There are several ways to dry salt dough:

• in the sun;
• at room temperature;
• on battery;
• in the oven;
• in the microwave;
• in a combined way.

Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Type of drying	pros	Minuses
In the sun	Does not require energy consumption	The craft takes a long time to dry
At room temperature	Economical	It takes a long time to dry. Indentations will remain on the product in contact with any surface.
On battery	Convenient to use in winter when the batteries are warm	The area does not allow drying volumetric figures
In the oven	The fastest way	Difficult to calculate temperature
In the microwave		Microwave cannot be used!
Combined method	Suitable for drying large crafts	Labour intensive

How long will it take to dry the craft?

Let's take a closer look at how long it will take a dough product to dry in one way or another.

• In the sun or in the room. The most economical method, as it does not require gas or electricity consumption. But with this method, every millimeter of the craft will take 24 hours to dry. This will happen much faster in the sun. This option is not suitable for large figures.
• IN electric oven . Time is calculated using the formula - 1 hour for every half centimeter of product thickness at a temperature of 75 degrees. Place the figurine in a cold oven. The temperature is increased every hour by 25 degrees.
• IN gas oven . Here, dough products dry twice as fast. Dry over low heat with the door slightly open. The first hour it is opened halfway, the second hour - a quarter, the third - the door is closed.
• Combined method. For two days, the craft is kept in the air, then sent to the oven for an hour, heated to 50 degrees, gradually increasing the temperature to a maximum of 150. This method is good for large products.
• On the battery (radiator). First cover the radiator with foil or cloth. It is better to place a board or plywood so that the ribbed surface of the battery does not deform the molding. Keep until completely dry.
• It is not recommended to dry salt dough in the microwave, since it takes a lot of time to dry. long time, not provided in the software.
• Drying on the grill. An effective method, since everything will dry evenly. Electricity consumption is relatively low.

Drying will be more effective if done in several stages. Dry in the oven for an hour on one side, 24 hours at room temperature, the next day dry on the other side in the oven for an hour and a half.

What should I do to prevent the product from swelling or cracking?

Bloating, cracks, brittleness. A carefully sculpted figurine can easily be ruined. Therefore, it is important to know a few secrets.

• The salt dough should be dried either on a light baking sheet, or take into account the stronger heating of a dark baking sheet. In this case, the temperature must be reduced by 25 degrees.
• Hot products are very brittle. They should either be cooled on a baking sheet or removed with a spatula very carefully.
• The figures should not be raw. Readiness is checked in the old-fashioned way - you need to carefully tap the product with your finger. If the sound is ringing, the craft is ready; if it is dull, it needs to be dried.
• An under-dried craft will soon begin to deteriorate, change color and crack.
• To avoid bubbles, it is recommended to start drying with the oven door open.
• Before starting drying, the oven is heated to a minimum, they begin to dry on the top shelf, after the product is browned, it is placed on the middle one.
• The appearance of bubbles and swelling is a sign that the temperature must be lowered immediately, otherwise cracks will appear.
• Bubbles cannot be removed from the figure, but cracks can be carefully covered with PVA glue.
• Figures made from colored dough should be dried at a temperature no higher than 125 degrees so that the color does not change.
• The oven cannot be heated to more than 125 degrees if the craft is to be white. For the browning effect, the oven is heated to 200 degrees.
• After drying and painting, finished crafts are varnished to protect them from moisture.

The cause of cracking may be flour chosen incorrectly. It should not contain additives. Can be added to wheat flour rye or 2 tbsp. spoons of starch. The plasticity of the modeling dough is given by PVA glue (a tablespoon per glass of flour).

Products made from salt dough are one of the most accessible types of creativity. Sculpt with your children, dry correctly, and most importantly, as much as necessary. Enjoy the process!

Preparing salt dough is very simple and does not take much time. But how to preserve finished products? How to bake salt dough? There are many ways to bake figures from this product. In order to decide which recipe is right for you, you should understand in detail the purpose of the future figurine.

Baking play dough at high temperatures

This option is suitable for small figures whose main purpose is entertainment. For example, for mothers who want to preserve children's crafts. This must be done on normal cooking sheet in the oven at 130 degrees. The oven should be cold initially. Then gradual heating will allow a crust to quickly form, thereby turning the process into a rapid one, taking no more than 15 minutes.

Baking salt dough at low temperatures

This method is ideal for large items, e.g. Christmas decorations. In this case, you need to prepare the stove in advance, bring it to 30 - 40 degrees temperature. Make crafts from the dough and immerse them in it. The drying time will depend on the size of the toy; as a rule, it does not exceed 3 hours.

Natural drying

It is believed that it is more correct to dry products in the sun or on a radiator. The disadvantage of this option is possible cracking of the surface. It will take up to several days.

You shouldn’t think about how baking salt dough affects the safety of the product. Firstly, the figurines are not tasty. Secondly, we prepare them exclusively for creativity.

Unsweetened dough is perfect for making products - buns, cookies, which will not harm the figure and can be included in diet menu. The content of fat, sugar and eggs in this dough is minimal, but a variety of delicious ingredients, for example, cottage cheese, oat flour, cheese. How to make cookies from unpalatable dough?

For the first recipe we need: 250 g of cottage cheese, 250 g of margarine, 1.5 cups of flour, 1.5 tsp. soda slaked with vinegar, a little salt and sugar.

Grind the cottage cheese in a blender, achieving a uniform delicate consistency no lumps. Add oil and rub the mass well. Mix soda with flour, salt and combine the mixtures. Place the kneaded dough in a cool place for half an hour. Then we roll it out into a layer, sprinkle it with sugar and cut out figures or just circles.

You can also decorate unsweetened cookies like this: roll the layer into a roll and cut into pieces. Bake the products at 180°C for about 20 minutes until golden brown.

Here is another recipe for making cookies from soft dough. To cook healthy sweets, we need: 6 glasses of flour, 2 tbsp. starch, a glass of vegetable oil, 1 tsp. soda, salt, 1.54 tbsp. water, 2 tbsp. Sahara.

Mix flour with starch and vegetable oil. You will get a sticky mass. Slaked soda and add salt, water, sugar to the dough. It won't turn out very cool. Roll out the dough into a layer and cut out shapes. The products are baked for 15 minutes at a temperature of 170-180°C.

Our distant ancestors decorated the surface of loaves with figurative images of spikelets, berries, and leaves before baking to attract good luck and receive blessings from their deities. Today we do this without any religious background, just for beauty.

In addition to decorating edible products, the use of dough special composition allows you to create very impressive and beautiful decorative figures, pictures and flowers. In this case, the dough perfectly replaces more difficult and expensive materials, so it is ideal for young children. But this is such an exciting activity that even respectable adults enjoy doing it.

Anyone can use salt dough for self-expression and relaxation; it is only important to know how to make a durable and flexible material, as well as to properly dry and paint the finished product.

Subtleties of preparing dough for crafts

The modeling of products itself is no different from working with plasticine or other similar materials. The advantage of salted dough is that it is more flexible, less dirty on hands and surrounding objects, provides more opportunities for complex work, and is also perfectly preserved after proper drying, becoming hard and durable.

1. The difficulty is how to cook correct dough, which will not stick to hands and tools, will not crack or crumble. To do this you need to use several simple tips:
2. Do not use pancake flour for work - it is more sticky and the dough will turn out to be of poor consistency.
3. Use only fine salt"Extra" type. Coarse salt will create a rough crumbly dough due to grains when kneading directly in dry form, and dissolving such salt in water will take too long. Moreover, in rock salt there may be impurities that will stain the play dough, and Extra salt is purified and very fine.

Brewing flour ice water, you can get an excellent, plastic and very homogeneous dough.

Using these simple tips, you can start working with your children to create a variety of amazingly beautiful products. Salt dough is a simple, inexpensive and very accessible material for creativity, and children are simply crazy about such useful entertainment.

Tools and materials used

When we sculpt from salt dough, we need special tools to work. All of them are available in our homes, in kitchens or among office supplies, materials for sewing and handicrafts.

Basic tools and materials for work:

• Rolling pin for rolling out dough. If it is not there or the existing one is too large for children’s hands, you can find a replacement in the form of an ordinary glass bottle.
• Knife for cutting dough. Children can be given a plastic knife from a set of colored plasticine.
• Board for rolling out dough and making products.
• Paints for coloring (watercolor, acrylic, gouache - any water-soluble dyes).
• Finishing varnishes (water-based, best in aerosols). Additionally, you can use spray varnishes “with special effects” - “snow”, with sparkles, gold, silver or other metallic varnish.
• Set of brushes for coloring.
• Container with water.
• Cookie molds.
• A variety of items to add texture to the finished product - toothbrushes, combs, knitting needles, buttons, lace and much more.

For small children, it is worth providing special clothing, as they can get very dirty. Before work, stock up on a pack of dry and wet wipes - they are convenient not only to clean your hands, but also to blot your brushes from excess paint. This will prevent the dyes from spreading over the finished item.

Three best recipes

To knead salt dough, you can use own hands or entrust this process modern technology- mixer or dough mixer. With their help you can obtain a particularly smooth and elastic dough.

In order to finished product does not crumble, you need to first fill the salt with the required volume of water, and then mix it thoroughly with flour. It is important to mix the product well until completely homogeneous, otherwise, when drying, the finished item may crack or fall apart into separate pieces.

Basic recipe:

• A glass of flour (wheat or rye).
• A glass of finely ground salt, “Extra” type.
• Half a glass of ice water.

Mix the ingredients and knead the dough until smooth. This recipe is great for crafts with delicate details: flowers, leaves, ornamental plants, and so on.

Recipe for plastic soft dough:

• Flour - one glass.
• Fine salt - one glass.
• The water is very cold - half a glass.
• Vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons.

Instead of oil, you can take glycerin, a fairly rich cream or cooking oil. The introduction of fats or oils into a salt dough recipe allows you to make its consistency more plastic and elastic, and also avoid cracking of the product after drying. This option is especially suitable for “thick-walled” products that may crack if the dough is completely dry.

To work with thin parts or many small elements, you will need to use an improved salt dough recipe:

• 1.5 cups flour.
• 1 glass of salt.
• 0.5 glasses of water.
• 2 - 3 tablespoons of PVA glue, Methylane wallpaper glue or any other water-soluble glue.

This dough holds its shape perfectly, you can make small thin elements from it, and with definitely “stuffed” hands you can make things that are outwardly indistinguishable from good porcelain.

Any recipe for salt dough can be regarded as a basis, since you can endlessly modify it “to suit yourself”, experimenting with various ingredients until you get the correct composition.

How to perfectly dry salt dough

The main difficulty for beginners is the technology of drying the finished product. Drying can be done in different ways:

• “Bake” in a heated oven like regular cookies, at a temperature ranging from 50 to 80 degrees (depending on the size and thickness of the product). The finished item is placed on parchment paper for baking and place in a preheated oven for about an hour. The duration of processing depends on the dimensions of the product. Do not remove the item from the oven until the oven has cooled completely.
• Drying in cold oven, that is, the product is placed in a cold oven, the heating is turned on and brought to desired temperature. Everything else is exactly the same as in the previous paragraph.
• It is best to simply air dry products made from dough with salt, although this takes a lot of time. A well-dried craft becomes durable, hard and not subject to external influences. Regular drying is great for small items or items with delicate parts.

Do not use electrical appliances or a central heating radiator for drying. They dry the dough unevenly, which can cause the item to crack or spoil if it is only dry on one side, has a dry surface and has “damp insides.”

Dyes and finishing materials used

When preparing salt dough, the dye can be introduced directly into the product itself and obtain a material very similar to plasticine. But the difficulty in this case will be working with the material - you will have to connect individual colored parts, and this is too difficult for kids. Everyone loves to work with paints, so for children it is preferable to paint a ready-made monochromatic item.

The easiest way to work is to use water-soluble paints. Acrylic dyes are very good - they give a dense and uniform color, have a large color palette, are easy to use, and dry quickly. But you can also use regular watercolors. It gives an excellent translucent layer, and paints can be layered with glazes to obtain special effects - volume, tone transitions, tints and different textures. If there is a need to obtain an opaque color using watercolors, you can use a white primer. Her role could be played by a white woman acrylic paint, gouache or tempera with the addition of PVA glue to hold it on the surface of the product.

For finishing, you can use three-dimensional paints, metallic dyes, beads of different sizes and shapes, buttons, rhinestones and other little things that do not deteriorate from high temperature, if you plan to dry it in the oven.

Is it worth varnishing crafts?

In principle, a finished craft made from salt dough holds paint very well, but if you plan to use this thing, for example, for games, or it is a chess piece, a decorative vase, a box, in short, a thing that will suffer from constant touching, then it should be coated varnish. It will not only protect finished products from external influences, but will also give a beautiful glossy shine, which is necessary for many types of crafts.

The easiest way is to use varnish in an aerosol, carrying out the treatment outdoors or in a well-ventilated area. If necessary, varnishing can be repeated several times, thoroughly drying each previous layer. To make it especially decorative, you can use special sprays, for example, with a snow effect or with glitter.

Types of salt dough products

For kids or beginners you need to use more simple shapes and objects they understand. You can start sculpting with traditional cats or dogs, fruits and berries, cars and others simple figures without numerous and complex details. Gradually, with the growth of the level of skill and the young sculptors themselves, the work can become more complicated, moving on to the creation of figures, paintings and compositions.

The pinnacle of craftsmanship can be considered the creation of flowers from bioceramics, as salt dough is also called. Of course, even a child can make a simple chamomile, but only an “advanced” user can make a full-fledged bouquet of roses or a flowering branch of jasmine.

To learn how to work with salt dough, you need to follow the instructions step by step and not rush into complex products.

Various panels and paintings made from dough with salt

Creating pictures from dough is not as difficult as it seems. At the first stages of creativity, it is worth using a hint in the form of a photograph of the future “work of art.” For example, let's say you want to create a beautiful autumn landscape. Find beautiful photo With a small amount small details and use it for inspiration.

• A piece of thin plywood is suitable as a basis for the picture, but if it is unavailable, you can also use thick cardboard. A rolled out layer of dough is placed on the surface of the base. It can be glued with any suitable glue.
• All the details of the future painting are cut out or molded from salt dough and superimposed on each other as they move away from the background of the painting. That is, the objects furthest from the viewer will be laid out on the base first. This method will allow you to obtain very neat and expressive three-dimensional images.
• The finished painting is thoroughly dried and then painted with suitable paints. After the paints have dried, the painting is varnished and placed in a frame. The product is ready, you can hang it on the wall in your room or give it to someone who can appreciate the creativity and talent of the performer.

If you use foil as a base for the product, the dried and painted part can be easily removed from it and then transferred to any other material. It can be thick fabric stretched over a frame, glass, plastic, even metal. Such flat and at the same time voluminous products can be used to decorate caskets, decorate children's furniture, boxes with various things, or be used for identification, for example, lockers for things in a kindergarten locker room.

Bioceramic figurines and dolls

There is nothing more interesting for kids than sculpting “people”. They really like “cartoon” characters, for example, fixies, Masha from the cartoon about the bear, heroes of comics and fairy tales. From salt dough you can make not only figurines and dolls, but also various houses, benches, trees, fountains - in a word, everything that your imagination can suggest.

If you plan to make fairly large figures, you should take care of the internal frame and stands for stable standing. Matches with the sulfur head removed, plastic and wooden toothpicks are suitable as supports for small plastic pieces; for larger products, cocktail skewers or sticks may be required. asian cuisine. Save the wooden popsicle sticks - they can become the basis for many different products.

For stability, the figures should be placed on a base made of salt dough in the shape of a circle or oval - this will ensure a flat plane.

If the figure is depicted in motion, it may be necessary to create a wire frame - it will help in sculpting and will not allow the finished product to crumble.

In addition to three-dimensional, three-dimensional figures of people and animals, you can create various fruits and vegetables from salt dough. They are beautiful both on their own and as part of various compositions. For example, elegant fruits can be effectively displayed on beautiful dish and decorate the kitchen or dining room with them.

Flat shapes can be cut out using cookie cutters. Hearts can become original valentines, Christmas trees can be decorated New Year's table, flowers - used to designate places when seating guests at a party. Only imagination can limit the scope of application of various dough products.

Spectacular flowers and plants made from mucosa

The pinnacle of craftsmanship is the thin and graceful flowers made from flour salt, as salt dough is also called. This work requires great perseverance, talent and accuracy, so it is more suitable for adults and teenagers. Kids can successfully sculpt stylized flowers of simple shapes.

How to make a complex one volumetric flower, for example, a rose?

• You need to take a piece of dough and roll it into a drop-shaped core. The base of the drop is the bottom of the flower.
• Then you need to roll out the dough thinly and cut out rose petals of different sizes and shapes from it.
• By carefully placing one petal after another on the teardrop-shaped base, you can get a rose blank. To make it look like a real flower, each petal must be carefully bent, giving it a natural shape and outline.
• To complete the work, you need to create a flower cup with the sepals turned away, cut out some beautiful leaves with carved edges and connect all the parts together using wire and pieces of salt dough.
• The finished crafts are left to dry completely, and then painted in the chosen colors.

Using this principle, you can create any flowers, entire bouquets, complex compositions, and even imitations of plants in pots. The choice of plot depends on the imagination and creativity of the creator. A good example It could become a cute cactus that should be kept near the computer. A living plant, even one as resilient as a cactus, may not survive in an office environment, but a lovely prickly creature made from salt dough will survive any cataclysms perfectly.

How to deal with possible problems

In any work, errors may occur, or things may not go at all as expected. Even if you do everything step by step, taking into account all the nuances, product defects may appear. This mainly involves cracking and chipping of individual parts of the product.

Cracks in crafts appear due to incorrect composition of the dough, errors in drying, or the start of painting the finished item when the base is not completely dry. If the cracks are small or the surface of the product is covered with a thin network of small cracks, they can be repaired.

To do this, you need to completely dry the item, and then carefully sand the defects using sandpaper of varying degrees of abrasiveness. You can bring the surface to perfection with “velvet” sandpaper. Then the remaining cracks can be filled with putty with a dough slightly diluted with water and salt. The procedure may have to be repeated several times if the cracks are very deep.

The lesson learned will teach that the basis of the future thing needs to be given much more attention than even the finishing - not only depends on its quality appearance the product itself, but also the very fact of its existence.

It happens that during the drying process part of the product simply falls off, this especially often happens with thin parts or fragile small fragments. Sometimes elements of the work break off during painting when the impact is too intense. In order to repair a toy with a straight break line, you can use regular PVA glue. Layers of glue must be applied carefully to avoid unsightly streaks. The finished and dried item must be sanded and re-painted and varnished.

If a product is broken fresh dough, it is enough to moisten the fracture areas thoroughly with water, press the individual parts together and wait for them to set. Decorate the dried work as planned.

You can try to restore a damaged figurine with the loss of individual elements by replacing the missing parts with pieces of fresh dough. Dry and fresh pieces may not connect securely, so after the new pieces dry, they may need to be glued together for strength.

Give yourself and your children the pleasure of creativity, because working with dough is easy and enjoyable, and the cost of materials is minimal. The result of the work can exceed any expectations!