Project #26 - Salt Dough Impressions

Materials - Flour, salt, water, nature items 

**This creates salt dough, which can be used like clay! It is important that you don’t eat it, even though it is made out of flour, because we will be pressing in items from nature into it and coloring/painting it. 

Making 

1. Gather some items from nature. Go for a walk or step outside! Look for leaves, rocks, sticks, etc. You could use something from inside, as well. 

2. Get 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup salt, and 1/2 cup cold water. This makes quite a lot, so you can adjust the recipe as needed. For my example, I used ½ cup flour, ¼ cup salt, and ¼ cup water. 
3. Mix flour and salt in a bowl together. Slowly mix in water, a few tablespoons at a time, until the dough is smooth. 

4. Knead the dough for 10 minutes, and then, let it rest for 20 min. 

5. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Roll some of the dough into spheres and press down to make circles. You can create impressions by pressing your nature objects into the dough. Another option is to form the clay to resemble a nature item (see the leaf here!). 
6. Place on a pan and cook for 2 hours or until dry and hard. 
7. Once it’s done, you can paint or draw on the impression to add color and detail. Look at your natural items for inspiration/reference!

Inspiration 

Check out this artist, Kathy Boyland. She preserves nature through pressing flowers, leaves, and other nature items into clay. Sometimes, she fires them in a kiln. Take a look at some of her work for inspiration!