Salt Dough Memories

I'm addicted to Pinterest -- but who isn't?  Among the ideas I collect are arts and crafts projects to do with "Sissy."  For the few weeks before Christmas, I had planned about as many projects as there were days in the month, and we did a lot of them.  By far, the project that was the most fun for everyone in the family (even the baby, who shall be known on this blog by his nickname, "Bubby") was making salt dough hand prints and foot prints.

You can find several recipes online, but here is what worked for us:

Mix together:

1. 1 cup flour
2. 1/2 cup salt
3. 1/2 cup water

Or double the recipe, like we did, to make a good amount of dough.  

Knead on a floured surface (we used large cutting boards) and roll the dough with a rolling pin until the dough is about 1/4 inch thick.  

The kids did both foot prints and hand prints, and Sissy also used cookie cutters to make some shapes.  If you want to be able to hang the hand prints or foot prints, be sure to put a hole in the dough before baking!  We used a straw to make the holes.  

Bake at 350 for about two hours, and then allow to harden overnight.  We waited a couple of days, and then Sissy and I painted them. 

She gave away the hearts as gifts at Christmas, and we are going to put the hand prints and foot prints in a shadow box.  We haven't got the box yet, but here are the finished products:

Voila!  This is a pretty easy (though messy) project and certainly is not only for the holiday season.  Enjoy!