Make pressed flower ornaments
With the festive season just around the corner, so many people are looking for new ways of decorating their homes as well as great home made gifts that they can give to their loved ones. Most important of all, these ideas need to be as simple as possible and they should contain basic ingredients that are commonly found in any household. This year, why not put those pressed flowers and leaves to good use by making some festive decorations?
You will need:- 1 cup baking soda
- ½ cup corn starch
- ¾ cup warm water
- Rolling pin
- Cookie cutter or class for cutting round discs
- Pressed flowers and leaves
- Mod podge (you can buy or make your own)
- Paint brush
- String for hanging your ornament OR magnets for making fridge decorations
- Start by making your dough. You will need to mix the baking soda and corn starch in a pot.
- Add the warm water and place on medium heat on your stove.
- Stir continuously as it bubbles. You will notice it start to come away from the sides of the pot.
- Once the mixture starts to dry and looks like soft play dough, remove from the stove and allow to cool enough that you can handle it.
- Turn the dough out onto a clean, flat surface and kneed for a few minutes to ensure that it is extra soft and pliable.
- Roll the dough out and take care not to make it too thin.
- Use your cookie cutter or cup to cut out circles in the dough and set them aside.
- Poke hole at the top of each disc. You will need to thread the string through this hole if you are making hanging ornaments. Leave this step out if you plan on making magnets instead.
- Place all of your discs on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Bake in your oven at 100 degrees C for approximately one hour.
- While baking, choose your flowers and plan the layout of each design.
- Once your discs are well baked, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool to room temperature.
- If you don't have mod podge, you can make some by mixing one part wood glue with half a part water. Make sure that you mix well and, if you store in a bottle, make sure that the bottle closes properly and that you shake well before each use.
- Paint the surface of the disc with some mod podge before sticking your flowers and leaves down.
- Once all of your designs are in place, paint another layer of mod podge on top.
- Make sure that you don't paint over the hole. If you do, clean it out with a toothpick or similar item before the mod podge hardens.
- Allow your decorations to dry properly before you proceed.
- If you want a hanging ornament, you will need to thread some string through the hole. To make a fridge magnet, simply glue a magnet to the back of the disc.
- Hang from your tree or display anywhere you like!
These are fantastic crafts for little ones. They can help you make the discs and even kneed the dough. Just make sure that they only handle cool dough of course. The designing and mod podge parts are the most fun so why not make this a family activity?
