Ornament and Handprint Clay

MommyMakes's Note:

Craft clay for the kids' handprints or homemade ornaments, etc...

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 12 small h ...

• 4 cups flour
• 1 cup salt
• 1 1/2 cups water

Directions:

1. Combine ingredients and knead dough for 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Roll dough out and cut around hand or cut circles out for making hand imprints. Use cookie cutters for ornaments or gift tags. If necessary, slightly dampen pieces to make them stick together.
3. Make a small hole for the hanger and prick to prevent air bubbles.
4. Bake at 300ºF about 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. You may have to bake considerably longer depending on how thick your items are. They may not feel hard right away but will harden as they cool.
5. Paint and decorate as desired. Acrylic paints work best and use a varnish to make them shiny.

Reviews

[Chef #1539550]

I cut it by 4 because I only have one child. I used 1 c flour, 1/4 c salt, and about 7 tbsp of water. I used a Kitchenaid to mix it and kneaded in food coloring by hand. It worked great. I've found that using a silicone baking sheet or parchment paper to make the handprints on makes for much easier moving to the baking sheet.

[LB123]

I was really excited to try this recipe to make hand prints for Christmas presents. I cut the recipe in half, but followed quantities exactly. The resulting consistency of the dough was VERY tough. It took forever to roll it out to the thickness I wanted, then was very hard for my 1 year old to push hard enough to make a print. I did poke lots of little holes in it to keep it from puffing up as another poster suggested, but halfway through baking, when I checked on them, they were puffed! I took them out and smooshed them back down, but now that they are dry, they've started to peel apart. The poked holes also still show up, so it looks very grainy. All in all, at least I have the hand print, but I don't think I'll use this recipe again.

[Chef #852866]

The recipe was good. I made it gluten free by using brown rice flour and adding 1 teas xangthan gum. The concept did not work well with my 14 month old. He wanted to squeeze it and try to eat it. We tried over and over, but failed. I think this would work well with a younger child whose hand you can control or a little older child who is a little more patient. So, instead of making hand ornaments, I cut out gingerbread men to decorate and made the scraps into beads for a lacing toy. Those turned out great!