Salt Dough Medallions

Making medallions from homemade salt dough is a great tactile experience for children and adults with some very pretty results. Here is the recipe that I used: 1 cup flour, 1 tablespoon salad oil, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup salt, 2 teaspoons cream of tartar, food coloring. Combine all ingredients, other than the food coloring, in a saucepan. Stir constantly while heating at medium. The mixture will be soupy for a few minutes until it begins to thicken and pull away from the sides of the pan. At this point, remove from heat and continue to stir. When a ball begins to form, turn the mixture onto a floured board. Knead until any lumps are gone and add extra flour if the dough is too sticky. It can be used immediately or stored in the refrigerator.

I used about 2 tablespoon of dough and mixed in a couple drops of food coloring before rolling out the dough with a rolling pin. I cut out the circles with a plastic glass and used the "tools" in the picture to make impressions in the clay. The salt dough can be air dried for several days or baked at 170 degrees for a couple of hours depending on thickness. The dough does expand slightly when baked so make sure that your impressions are deep enough so that they don't disappear and that the hole you make for hanging them is a little larger than you might think you will need. After baking I coated mine with glossy Mod Podge.