Salt Dough Miniature Food

Salt dough is fun and easy to mold into tiny creations. We traditionally make miniature food. Cakes and cookies are perennial favorites with the children.

The recipe we use is:

2 parts flour

1 part salt

1 part water

coloring

Artificial or natural food colorings give vibrant, lasting color, but for browns and golds, spices such as cinnamon, cloves, and turmeric work well (and smell great). Adjust the amount of flour to make a workable dough, and remember that the items will dry to a lighter color than the wet dough, so be generous with whatever coloring you choose to use. 

Items can be decorated with spices such as cloves for stems and allspice for chocolate chips.

Dry items in gentle heat, either above a radiator or in an oven set to 175 F for several hours. Higher temperatures may crack your creations.

Cinnamon Bunnies

These little bunnies were made out of cinnamon-applesauce dough. The dough worked easily as clay and the bunnies dried nicely, without cracking. And they smell delightful.

Painted rocks

I'm a miniaturist at heart, so I love to paint tiny scenes rocks. I pick up rocks on the beach, selecting rounded shapes with smooth surfaces, and paint them with acrylic paint. Most of the rocks are between one and a half and three inches in diameter.

I usually do summer and winter scenes. This year I added an "Under the Sea" theme to shake things up.

Maple Seed Dragonfly

This little dragonfly is made from a stick and four maple seeds held together with hot glue. It's strengthened with Mod Podge and painted with copper paint, overlaid with a thin layer of blue acrylic on the wings.

Inspiration from Twig and Toadstool.

Acorn Nest Ornaments

We owe the idea for these lovely little ornaments entirely to Twig and Toadstool.

Wet-felted Balls in Waldorf Star Boxes

These little wet-felted balls have a jingle bell inside so they rattle when you shake them. A general tutorial for wet-felted balls can be found on Lil Blue Boo.

The box is a Waldorf star lantern folded out of origami paper. I found excellent folding instructions on Home Baked.

Cork Boats

These boats are made out of wine corks and really float. They are held together with toothpick pegs that are secured with hot glue, and the mast is a bamboo skewer, trimmed to size and glued in as well. A penny glued into a cutout on the bottom keeps the boat upright in water.