Salt Dough

Salt dough/ mass is great for children. It is safe if accidentally ingested or bitten into, unlike other plastic doughs sold commercially.

Creating shapes from salt dough is a great way to wonderfully develop imagination, supports the development of motor skills, and can be a relaxing activity.

I think that in this pre-Christmas period, creating figurines or “balls” from salt dough can be a great integrating activity for the family. Or it can simply let you catch your breath and do other preparations whilst your child is safely playing.

The salt mass made in Thermomix comes out soft and springy, thanks to the machines; ability to grind the salt into dust. The mass stored in a sealed box in the refrigerator should last a long time. However, if it breaks down or wears out, it is very cheap to prepare and so easy and quick to make that if necessary, you can make extra when it runs out or breaks.

The idea for decorations that I want to give you is of course very simple because I do not throw myself into the more complicated, and anything requiring manual work.

You can get carried away by your imagination and create three-dimensional decorations for a Christmas tree or your home!

Salt mass ingredients

• 2 cups of salt
• 2 cups of wheat flour
• 1 cup of warm (not hot) water
• 2 tablespoons of cooking oil

Preparation

• Add salt into your dry mixing bowl, blend to dust for 10 seconds on speed 10
• Use the spatula to scrape the salt down the sides of the bowl
• Add wheat flour, mix for 5 seconds on speed 5
• Scrape the ingredients off the sides with a spatula, add oil and water, and set to 3 minutes on kneading mode (interval).

The dough should resemble a dumpling dough- light and bouncy. It should not stick to your hands or the roller. If the dough is too thin and sticky, add a little flour. If it crumbles, add a tablespoon of water, and blend again for 1 minute.

Now you can put the mass in an airtight container and put it in the fridge or get to creating straight away!

SALT DOUGH FOR CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

You will need:

• Salt dough
• Kneading mats
• Roller for dough
• Christmas themed cookie cutters
• A straw
• Lace napkins, small Christmas tree branches, etc. for decorations
• Glitter and/or paint
• A soft brush
• String or ribbons
• Baking sheet and baking paper
• Oven

Making Christmas decorations from salt mass

• Roll out the mass into a thickness of about 3 mm (thinner than 3mm will break quickly, thicker will dry longer and will be heavy)
• Use your cookie cutters to create Christmas themed shapes
• To add detailed shapes to your decoration, you can press a lace napkin or the tree branches into the dough using a roller, then gently remove
• Tear off the excess salt dough from around the cookie cutter
• Use a straw to make a hole for the string
• Place the finished decorations on a baking tin covered with baking paper using a silicone spatula
• Dry in the oven for 1 hour at 50 degrees
• Flip the shapes, turn off the oven, put the shapes back in the oven to rest
• Repeat the drying steps if necessary to ensure your shapes are completely dry- make sure to flip the shapes each time

Tip:  You can also leave decorations on the countertop and dry them for a few days, turning them over once a day. Or dry them in a fruit dryer. Just like in the oven, only without flipping over

• When the decorations are completely dry, use a brush to fill the grooves of the patterns with paint or a sprinkle with glitter
• Thread ribbon/string through the hole made earlier, to tie a knot