Spring has sprung, and we celebrated with a spring craft. These salt dough flower fingerprints are fun for kids of all ages. The kids have always enjoyed our salt dough activities. Moms and grandparents, especially, love crafts involving fingerprints, handprints, or footprints. It would be a great Mother’s Day craft. We added the ribbon so we could hang them for display this spring.
The first thing to do is to mix up your salt dough. I have a recipe that I love and always use. You can find that recipe if you click through here. This recipe hasn’t failed me yet. The kids were able to mix up all the ingredients and roll it out. I love having this Wilton Fondant 9 Inch Rolling Pin
because it has guides on the ends that help you roll your dough or fondant to an equal depth. It makes rolling things out evenly for kids (and adults) very easy.
Once your salt dough is all rolled out, use a 2 inch flower cookie cutter
. The kids each made a few for themselves.
Once the flowers are cut, they will use their fingers to press in each pedal. I needed to help guide the littler ones to make sure they nailed the location of the pedal.
We used a drinking straw to cut out the holes so that the flowers would be able to be hung.
Next the kids transferred the flowers to a baking sheet. I used a jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper. You could also line your pan with a Silicone Baking Mat
.
To make the center of the flower, the kids added Perler Beads. They all were able to choose their own colors and go monochromatic or use a variety of colors. They are now ready to bake. Bake these at 250 for 2-3 hours. Keep your eyes on them to make sure they don’t get too brown and that the beads are melting a bit before removing them from the oven. I had a reader once say she tried one of my perler bead projects by sticking it in the microwave (not in my directions…she was just trying to speed up the process on her own) and her microwave nearly caught on fire. Please do not put these in the microwave!!
The final step is to paint them once they are fully cooked and cooled. Any craft paint would work, but I used the paint I found from Craft Project Ideas. Their products can be found in a variety of retailers, including Walmart.
All three of my kids (age 6, 4 and 3) were able to do a lot of this on their own, with minimal help from me. It was a great project for all the ages.
More Salt Dough Projects
Salt Dough Leaf Bowls
Salt Dough Santa
Salt Dough Stars
Salt Dough Perler Bead Hearts
LOVE THIS! My girls and the two girls I watch will have so much fun with this project. The flowers are so pretty. Thanks! I’d love for you to share your post on my weekly Just for Kids link-up. http://www.homeschoolingmom4two.com/2014/03/just-for-kids-weekly-link-up-crafts_31.html
Have a great day!
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. I’m so glad you enjoy this idea and really hope you have fun doing it with the girls. I’ll see if I can find the time to make it over to the link party. It’s a crazy busy week.
Love these! If I made them with my kiddos at school will the dough last until I can get it in the oven at home? If it dries I’m afraid it won’t bake correctly but I don’t have a way to bake them at school. Have you ever waited to bake them? I’m thinking a couple of hours. Or maybe I can keep them wrapped or covered until I get home…. Hmmm
I’ve never really waited with them. I’m not quite sure, but I think if you covered them with plastic wrap they’d be fine. I say go for it. Just keep your eye on them as they bake. They might bake a little faster, but I’m not sure. I’d love to see the results. You could share a picture on my Facebook page if you wanted. I’m so glad you’re going to do these. I hope you have fun!!
if i never bake,i just leave the dough untill it dry? can o not?
I have never done that, so I’m not sure. I would try and bake if you are willing. If you don’t bake, let me know how it turns out. Thanks, Jodi