Salt Dough Footprint Keepsakes

Salt dough recipe:

1 cup salt
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup of water









Mix together into a large bowl and knead it until smooth and stretchy. This last part is important otherwise the dough remains sticky and quite granular from the salt. If it is still too sticky add a bit more flour, if too dry and crumbly then add a tiny touch more water. A little bit of trial and error is all that is needed and it really is so easy!

Once the dough is kneaded, divided it into equal parts and found a shallow bowl that was big enough to accommodate the full length of the childs feet.  Then squish one part into the bowl and flattened it around to the edges.

Then teased it away from the edges slightly and flip it out onto a plate. The underside will be very smooth with a lovely finish, perfect as a canvas for the footprints!

Then get the child to tread one foot into the middle of their dough plaques, one at a time. A firm straight down impression and then lift straight off again works really well. If it gets messed up, the great thing is that you can reform it and try again!

The plaques then go into the oven for 3 hours at 100 degrees C (around 200 degrees F). They need to be placed on baking parchment or greaseproof paper so that they don't stick. It needs to be on a very low heat for a length of time to thoroughly dry out and harden. If the oven is too hot they will rise and "cook". The thinner the dough and the lower the temperature, the better these will turn out! If they are still doughy in the centre after 3 hours then turn them over and put them back in for another 2 hours. If you want to hang yours on the wall then you need to add a hole with a straw before it goes in the oven.

Allow the plaques to cool over night, then feel free to paint & decorate. It's truely that simple & a great keepsake or gift. HAVE FUN!!!!