This darling little ladybug makes a great shelf adornment or a welcome visitor on your desk.
By Amanda Formaro [Amanda is the crafty, entrepreneurial mother of four children.]
What You Need:
- 1 cup salt
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup water
- acrylic paint in red, black, and white
- paintbrush
- pencil
- toothpick
- clear acrylic sealer
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 ladybug, you can either use an egg shaped cookie cutter, or do like we did and simply roll a small handful of dough in your hands to form an oval. Our heart is approximately 2 inches long, but the size is completely up to you!
Once your oval is created, use a pencil to draw a line (about 1/4″ deep) down the center of the bug, about 2/3 the way up the oval. At that point, branch of to create a “V” shape for the head (see photo). Poke pencil into various spots on the ladybug’s back to create its spots.
Place the ladybug onto the cookie sheet and bake for approximately 2 – 2.5 hours. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. For best results, allow ladybug to cool and dry overnight, or for at least 4 hours.
To decorate, paint the ladybug’s body red, the head black, and use a fine tip paintbrush or a toothpick to fill in the outline and dots with black paint. Let dry. Use toothpick or fine tip paintbrush to dot on whites of the eyes, let dry. Use toothpick to dot on the black part of the eyes. Finish with a coat of clear acrylic sealer.
