The most amazing part of crafting is sometimes when such common items turn into something so different than the ingredients used. This is one of those times. These adorable large country buttons are made from nothing more than salt, flour and a little water. They are hard as a brick and will last for years if stored in a dry environment. I like to store them in a small container that I keep in the dining room in a sideboard where other holiday decorations that are fragile get stored. So they don't get large changes in temperature. I have some that are many years old that we made when my 28 year old son Aaron was a boy.
To begin with I will tell you that you can make almost any shape you wish with this recipe and decorate your home with small bowls of the items or decorated a seasonal tree like I love to do at our little home. There will be more posts on that for the next year as I attempt to leave my Christmas tree up and redecorate it all year for the new holidays...I know, But I think I can pull it off....The ingredients in making the salt dough ornaments haven't changed from the millions you will find out there and there is really no need to look for anything to change since it works as it is and has for many generations. You can look at our Pinterest Board on salt dough to get more ideas of ways to make it and use it around your house by clicking here.
I began by dragging the electric mixer over to the center island to use for this just because I have a weak wrist right now and didn't want to kneed the dough by hand. I let it get it sorta mixed together and then finished up by hand on the cutting board.
Mix together either by hand or mixer1 Cup of All Purpose Flour
1 Cup of Regular Salt (I used the cheap Walmart Brand for .50 cents for a container)
1/2 cup of warm water
(you can add in about a half a spice container of cinnamon if you want them to be scented)
Once you have it to a consistency that is about what is shown here in the photo, not unlike cookie dough in firmness, you will lay a layer of suran wrap down and roll out the dough. I make it a variety of thickness choices just so that I can have different sizes of ornaments.As it bakes it does not rise (much) so what you have is what you get but it does become harder to dry quickly if you get it very thick.
Before I cut my shapes I like to cover the top with a piece of suran wrap so that when you press the cookie cutter into the dough it sorta rounds off the edges. It just makes it look less like you cut it with a cookie cutter and more like it was handcrafted. I do some both ways so I have a variety.
I have a bunch of choices in cookie cutters that I got from Walmart in the baking isle that came 101 cookie cutters in the box for only about $10.00. You can watch yardsales and thrift shops for good buys on cookie cutters. Hobby Lobby has some great ones that are for the holidays as well.
You bake them in the over on a low temperature for a couple hours on a regular cookie sheet. I started out with mine on about 250 degrees but went up to 300 on a few thicker batches because I am impatient :) I baked pretty much all day, batch after batch to get this many ready for painting.
(And yes, I know, I have way more remote controls than I care to keep up with, LOL)
These buttons are my favorite of the ones I made today. They literally look like giant buttons. I am putting ribbons and threads and little bows on them now to give them a little extra wonderful. I used stain and rubbed in the cracks and wiped over them once I finished painting them so that they would look like they were old and then finished off by spraying all of them with a coat of spray clear finish. That made them really come to life and keeps the bugs out of them for years to come.
This is a great project for a day when you have a large family gathering. You can bake up several batches of them and then have a decorating party. Maybe a good way to keep the kids busy during Thanksgiving Day.
I used some beads and little things to spiff them up as well. They turned out great and next week when I put up the tree it will be fun to add them to my decorations.
I hope you seen something here that will help you to decide you want to do this craft with your family and hope you enjoyed sharing mine.
Oh, the little snowman below is totally my favorite as he was just what dough I had left over rolled into a rough stick and then painted up with a cute little eyes and a carrot nose and adorned with some gingham fabric. I think I am gonna go back and make an entire bowl of him just to sit around during January which is going to be my snowman decorating month in the new little house.
Want to Win a couple of the buttons for FREE ? Enter by completing the following 5 items...
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5. Leave a comment on this blog post at the bottom of the post saying you met these 5 requirements and you so want those Buttons and that's it....The entry will close for this promotion on Nov 15 so get on over and do the 5 things above and I will draw one random name on Nov 15 to win some of the cool buttons from those who have met these requirements and I will send them the buttons and post the winners name in the comments on this post and on our Facebook and Pinterest Pages.
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Do you think this would make a fun project for a Birthday Party ? Maybe a cupcake shaped one and each kid gets to take one home with them after they decorate them ?
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