Tuesday, 1 December 2015

White Clay Dough Christmas Decorations

A few weeks ago I saw some beautiful white reindeer Christmas decorations on The Imagination Tree website.

The dough only used 2 ingredients plus water & looked straight forward so I thought I'd give it a go with the kids.

My first problem however was working out the quantities. The recipe is American so uses cups. After several Google attempts I think I've found the right measurements. I had no idea it was so varied. For example 1 cup of flour is 150 grams but cornflour is only 130 grams!

You need:
1/2 cup cornflour 65 grams
1 cup bicarbonate of soda 180 grams
3/4 cup water 180mls 

Mix the dry ingredients in a sauce pan.
Pour in the water and heat.
Use a medium temperature & stir continuously.
It will start to bubble & thicken. 
Once it begins to come away from the sides & form a ball remove from heat & cool.
Once it's cool enough to touch you can knead briefly & then shape.


We used star, snowmen, bell and holly leaf cookie cutters.

The stars didn't work as I couldn't get them out of the mould however the rest were fine.

Remember to make a hole to thread ribbon through. I used a plastic straw to do this. 

You can then either air dry for 24-48 hours or oven bake. The website I got the inspiration from suggested 1 hour at 100c but ours took approx 2 1/2 hours to dry out.

Once dry & cool we decorated ours with felt pen & holly ribbon. You could paint, use glitter pens or leave white.



We also tried a second batch with red glitter in but it turned the dough pink & I don't think we heated it enough as it was very sticky.

The kids loved making them & I would definitely attempt it again.  Ours are a little misshapen but lovely none the less.



Why don't you have a go?

If you do let me see your results. 


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7 comments

  1. Love these! Such a great idea and they seem really easy to make too. Thanks for linking up to the #BinkyLinky

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  2. They are super easy to make. Just stir LOADS else it will stick :)

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  3. What a super idea and so easy will definitely be giving this a go thanks for linking to the Binkylinky

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    1. Thanks Nigel. I'm not a crafty mum but really enjoyed making these.

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  4. Brilliant idea! And I think easy enough for even the most novice of crafters! :-)

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    1. Thank you. Yep even the non crafters should manage ;)

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  5. Such a great idea, I've never tried to make clay myself I usually just buy the air dry stuff from a shop.

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