Salt Dough Bear Magnet
by Amanda Formaro
Kids love to create things, and this darling little bear makes a great addition to your refrigerator.
You will need
1 cup salt
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup water
acrylic paint in brown, black, light brown, and white
paintbrush
pencil
toothpick
clear acrylic sealer
magnet strip or circle
white craft glue
IMPORTANT NOTE: This recipe for salt dough makes a lot of ornaments. If you only plan on making a few, cut this recipe into fourths or in half.
What you do
Preheat oven to 250 F. Mix together, salt, flour, and water until a dough is formed. Knead the dough on a floured surface until the mixture is elastic and smooth. If dough is too sticky, sprinkle with flour, continue to do so until stickiness is gone. BE CAREFUL. Do not add too much flour, this will dry out the dough and will cause it to crack before you get a chance to bake it.
THIS DOUGH IS NOT EDIBLE.
Roll out the dough. To make the bear, you can either use a round cookie cutter, the top of a drinking glass, or do like we did and simply roll a small handful of dough in your hands to form a ball. Our bear is approximately 2 inches long, but the size is completely up to you!
Once your ball is created, use a the palm of your hand to press down gently, just to remove the roundness, circle should still be about 1/2" thick. Use dough to roll another ball, about half the size of the first one. repeat the pressing process and position on top of the larger circle to create the muzzle of the bear (see photo). Create an even smaller ball for the nose, press onto muzzle. Last, roll two more balls, about three times the size of the nose, for the ears. Position at the top of the head and gently press them together with the dough of the head.
Use a pencil to dot on whiskers, draw a mouth, eyebrows, and half circles in the ears.
Place the bear onto the cookie sheet and bake for approximately 2 - 2.5 hours. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. For best results, allow bear to cool and dry overnight, or for at least 4 hours.
To decorate, paint the bear's head and ears with brown, his muzzle with light brown, and his nose and mouth with black. Use a fine tip paintbrush or a toothpick to fill in the outline in the ears with light brown and the whiskers with black paint. Let dry. Use toothpick or fine tip paintbrush to dot on black eyes, let dry. Use toothpick to dot on the white part of the eyes. Finish with a coat of clear acrylic sealer.
When sealer is dry, glue a magnet to the back and hang proudly on your refrigerator!
About the Author: Amanda Formaro is the entrepreneurial mother of four children. She is the Chief Editor of FamilyCorner.com Magazine. Visit her crafty blog for new projects and other ramblings! 
09-06-2008 12:18 PM
