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Inexpensive Kitchen Crafted Gifts. The urgent need to provide a variety of Christmas gifts without breaking the budget is a great incentive to learn a new skill or begin a new hobby.

One that is inexpensive, needs a minimum of materials and can be shared by the whole family is dough art.

Everything you need is readily available in your kitchen, and you can quickly and cheaply produce a range of gifts to please everyone.

There are no hard and fast rules on dough art, just allow your personal creativity free wings. Basic techniques include rolling ropes, making a twist, Christmas wreaths, weaving dough and making character figures. To attach one piece of dough to another, simply wet both surfaces. If you have heavy pieces, or wish to attach a shape at a difficult angle, use thin wire pushed through the dough.

The basic recipe is:

Salt Dough

2 cups plain flour

1 cup salt

1 cup water at room temperature

Optional

1 tablespoon organic coconut oil (makes it a little easier to knead)

1 tablespoon wallpaper paste (gives the mixture more elasticity)

1 tablespoon lemon juice (makes the finished product harder)

Method

Mix the dry ingredients then slowly add the water until you have a firm dough. Knead for 5 - 10 minutes. If possible it is best to let the dough stand for approximately twenty minutes before beginning a project. Unused dough can be stored in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to a week. Children always love making models, and as long as you don’t add wallpaper paste all of the ingredients are natural. So if they are tempted to put it in their mouths, all it will do is taste incredibly salty.

Different flours and salts give different results. For example whole-wheat flour gives a much grainier and browner texture. Experiment and don’t be afraid to mix different textures together to form more interesting designs that don’t have to be colored. If the dough starts to stick as you craft it, flour your worktop and hands lightly. Once the dough is made,work quickly with it to model pieces.Before baking, certain areas of the model can be covered with egg white to brown them, whilst others can be covered with foil to keep them white.

Bake your dough art creations 165C (325F) depending on the thickness, can take up to 90 minutes.

The dough is a pleasant creamy color but this can be varied by kneading in a few drops of natural food coloring. A deeper brown shade cna be obtained by mixing coffee powder into the water before adding it to the flour and salt. Organic goodies such as organic cocoa powder, paprika, saffron or beet juice can add a natural color. The designs can be painted with watercolours after they are baked. Then, if you wish to protect your finished artwork, coat the creations with eco-friendly VOC-free matt, satin or gloss varnish on all sides, repeat a few times.

DIY Eco Varnish - From The Natural Paint Book, by Lynn Edwards and Julia Lawless (Rodale Press, 2002). Boiling the sap of pine trees produced turpentine, and from the pine nuts came an oil. Together with wax extracted from bees’ nests and shellac, there now existed the raw materials for paint manufacture and the creation of varnishes and oil finishes!For Eco crafting varnish, we have used an all-over coat of linseed oil or for a eco-friendly sealer, glue mixed with water to thin it makes a fine satin finish. We have used Sante Nail clear varnish on a few of our small craft projects. Add other materials to your finished dough art projects. For example cloths, dried flowers and herbs, lace, yarn, string, shells, ribbons, buttons the list is endless.

Dough Art Tools - See what is lying around the kitchen: pastry cutters, garlic press, rolling pin, grater, toothpicks,birthday candle holders, sugarcraft scissors, cookie cutters etc.You can use a fine grater to give the impression of pitted skin - e.g. oranges, lemons, and strawberries. Just roll the dough over the graters surface; alternatively you could use a skewer. If you press dough onto a wicker basket and peel off you have that texture imprinted on your mixture. Try using unusual surfaces and moulds to form exciting designs.  Always wash and dry utensils after each use as the salt in the dough encourages rust.

You will also need some cornflour (cornstarch) or flour to dust dough items that need to be rolled, rather than moulded.

Cinnamon and Salt Dough

Keep the designs simple and not too thick, so they won't dry out - they can be painted and varnished with eco-friendly varnish and watercolors.

Gingerbread Men

Roll out the salt dough and cut gingerbread men in all diffferent sizes, bake slowly to dry out- if kept dry they last indefinitely. You can tint and sprinkle with aromatic spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg. You can make squiggly lines with paint and glue bow ties. Cut holes in the raw dough to thread cord or cotton through for hangers, or glue these to the back when hardened.

Cinnamon Dough

1 1/2 cups ground cinnamon or mixed spice

1 cup apple sauce

1/2 cup glue

Mix all the ingredients until a firm dough. Knead for 5 minutes, cover with wrap, stand for 30 minutes. Roll and make shapes with Christmas cookie cutters. Put on a cooling rack covered with gauze and let dry, turning occasionally.

Plaque

The easiest project to get you started is a wall plaque. Roll the dough to an even thickness of about 3 mm (1/4 in). Cut out an attractive shape. Can use cookie cutters, we have used a large heart shaped cookie cutter but other cutters, cutting around a saucer, or drawing a template on paper and cutting around it would also be suitable. The plaque will need to hang and there are two simple methods you can use. The first is to place a knitting needle in the dough and twist it around to make a hole. The other way is to take a piece of florist's wire and wrap it around a pencil to make a loop, twisting the ends tightly together. Cut off the excess wire leaving a 1-2 cm (1/2 -1 in) end, dip it in water and insert the dough.

Decorating the Plaque

A design can be pressed into the dough using a pen, pen top, toothpick, key or any other object which will leave a mark. A patterned border can be made around the edge of the plaque and the centre decorated with dough shapes. For a heart shape small moulded or cut dough flowers are attractive. Flower shaped canape cutters are useful as are some of the small flower cutters used in cake decorating. A tiny spring type cutter for forget-me-knots is very useful for filling gaps, however cutters are not essential and moulded flowers can be just as effective.

Roses Form a small piece of dough into a ball. Roll to a short rope and then press the rope flat with the fingers. Start at one end and roll the dough pressing one edge together at the base of the rose and allowing the other edge to flare open.

Tubular Flowers Roll a small piece of dough to a short, fat baton shape. Insert the point of a floured knitting needle into one end and work gently to hollow it out by pressing and rolling the needle. Using fine nail scissors cut four or five slits around the hollowed end. Gently press and mould the cut edges into petal shapes with fingers.

Hollyhocks Use the same hollowing procedure on small balls of dough and hollow out to cup shape.

Doughnut Flowers Make small balls of dough, dampen and press onto the article being decorated with a fine knitting needle, leaving a central hole.

Leaves Roll a small ball of dough, flatten in between the thumb and index finger and pinch one end to a point. Flatten the top again. Mark veins with a long pin or piece of fine wire.

Arrange the flowers on the plaque atttaching each one with a little water, using a child's fine paintbrush or something similar. Dry the finished plaque in a warm place - the cupboard surrounding the hot water cylinder, on a warm mantlepiece or in the oven at about 80 degrees C (170 degrees F) with the door slightly ajar. Most things will need overnight in the oven to dry thoroughly and longer in the other places. When the plaque is cold give it a coat of eco varnish, painting one side and leaving it to dry before turning it over to paint the back. Alternatively suspend the article with strong thread and varnish both sides at the same time. A second coat is worthwhile as added protection.

Try making two hearts to match, hanging both from a small brass ring with ribbons of different lengths. You can use decorated hearts as gift tags on presents by writing your message on a small piece of paper and glueing it to the back of the dough heart. A very brief message can be pricked into the dough before it is dried.

Small flowers and leaves can be moulded and dried separately - these will need a much shorter drying time. Varnish and then attach to hair combs or gift tags.

Simple Wreath

Make a small wreath for the Christmas tree. This is modelled from a simple twist of dough 20cm in length. Arrange holly leaves and berries over the join in the dough and fit a hanging hook behind the leaves. Paint, avoiding the leaves and berries, then sprinkle with poppy seeds.

Bake at 145C for 1 1/2 hours. Paint the leaves and berries, varnish and add a bow.

Salt Dough Sheep Character

Turning the heat up adds a golden brown glow here and there which helps to make a more rustic looking sheep.

When making long strips of dough for plaiting, use the palm of your hand to roll the pastry rather than your fingers, as this gives a more even surface.

Plaiting, try to lift the dough as little as possible as this will stretch it until it finally breaks, better to carefully drag it along the lightly floured work surface, or lift it in one, carrying the full length in the palm of your hand. The same applies to latticework.

Birds Roll a small ball of dough then press and pinch one end to a fine beak. Press, pinch and flatten the other side to make the tail. Press a pin on the tail to mark the feathers. For the wing take a smaller piece of dough and press and pinch to shape, mark the feathers and attach them to the body with a dab of water.

Candlesticks Roll the dough to a thickness of 3 cm (1 1/4 in) and cut out with a large scone cutter. With fingers mould the cut edges to round and soften. Press a candle into the centre of the disc and move it around a little to enlarge the hole slightly as the dough will shrink when drying. Remove the candle. Cover the base with flowers and leaves and leave to dry. Because of the thickness of the base these will need a long drying period, so make sure they are thoroughly dry before varnishing.

Jar Lid Covers Dampen a jar lid and mould a lump of dough over the top and sides. Bring the dough well down the side of the lid to allow for shrinkage. Decorate with flowers and leaves or use small pieces of dough to make facial features - you can use dough forced through a garlic press as strands of hair, dry thoroughly.

Every one at some stage has a piece that either breaks or cracks. Rectify this by sticking the pieces together again with some fresh dough, then bake/dry out as before. Alternatively you could use a suitable glue.

As you can see from these examples, there are endless possibilities for using this simple art form. No doubt the kids will come up with some great ideas of their own - be prepared for some surprises on Christmas morning. Happy experimenting and enjoy making plenty of dough!