A must have for new babies..

Salt Dough Footprint Keepsakes

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Salt dough recipe:

1 cup salt

1 cup plain flour

Half a cup of warm 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 was kneaded I divided it into equal parts and found a shallow bowl that was big enough to accommodate the full length of both girls’ feet. I then squished one part into the bowl and flattened it around to the edges.  I then teased it away from the edges slightly and flipped it out onto a plate. The underside was very smooth with a lovely finish, perfect as a canvas for the footprints!

 

Then make sure to put baby's foot firm and straight down for an 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 went 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 center 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. I didn’t do that with ours this time as I thought they may be a bit too heavy for hanging. The next day paint them using pearlized acrylic paints and we left them to dry for a couple of hours.

IDEA: Do every summer and make a stepping stone path.

I have written their names, ages and dates on the back with a Sharpie permanent marker. I intend for these to simply be displayed rather than have a practical purpose, but you could of course use them as paper weights, or thread ribbon through to hang them on the wall.  I hope ours will last a very long time. They will be treasured alongside the salt dough hand-prints we made last year, which now look so tiny in comparison!