My Opera..bread dough, clay-mation, ...
Friday, April 6, 2007 6:20:00 PM
What a lot of things can be done with dough and the kids are used to bread being baked in an oven so there is nothing odd about hard bread --except perhaps using it for fun!
Soft play dough is better for animation work but hard, dried bread dough is great for objects that are to be painted and used.
Things You'll Need
2 Cups of regular white, unsifted flour.
1/2 Cup of plain table salt
3/4 Cups of water (fresh from the tap)
Large mixing bowl
Flat surface to work
Oven
Optional: One egg. If you want a shiny finish on your object, brush it with a coat of slightly beaten raw egg before baking. (Do not perform this option if you are going to paint the object.)
Recipe
In a mixing bowl, combine and blend the flour and the salt.
With your knuckles, make a "well" or "pocket" in the center of the dry mixture.
Pour about 1/2 the water into the well.
Mix the "dough" with a fork or use your hands.
Add the remaining water.
Continue to work the dough (knead) with your hands until the "stickiness" is gone and the dough feels smooth to the touch (like clay) and it is not crumbly. (If the dough is too crumbly, add a few DROPS of water at a time to moisten the dough.) (If the dough feels too wet, add a PINCH of flour at a time and knead it more.)
Set your clay onto a flat work space and shape the project of your choice. (See "Tips")
Place the shaped object (s) on an ungreased cookie sheet/pizza pan.
Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees.
Bake your creation for about an hour. (Take a peek at it after 45 minutes, and then again every five minutes to avoid burning your creation.)
When baked, remove your project from the oven and allow it to completely cool and harden.
Paint or varnish your creation. (See "Things You'll Need: Optional")
Tips
If you are planning to hang your creation (such as a tree or wall ornament) poke a small hole in your object where you can affix a hanger/ribbon/string, etc. Use a kitchen skewer, the point of a knitting needle, a nail, or a pencil.
Create various flat shapes with cookie cutters.(Stars, animals, ovals, round circles, leaves, etc.)
Sculpt your own creation.
Optional: Paint. Apply paint or varnish after your project is baked and completely cooled. Use ordinary crafting acrylics to paint. Add crafter's varnish for a shiny finish.
For more tricky and longer term activities, use wire to make a frame and use something very solid to make permanent focus points, such as heads, hands and feet etc, and then use soft play dough to make the bits in between.
The picture and more info come from the site at http://www.animateclay.com/.
Making life size dolls would be fun!!
Adding some Pico Crickets into the mix and having really big robots that can move would be startling!
Soft play dough is better for animation work but hard, dried bread dough is great for objects that are to be painted and used.
Things You'll Need
2 Cups of regular white, unsifted flour.
1/2 Cup of plain table salt
3/4 Cups of water (fresh from the tap)
Large mixing bowl
Flat surface to work
Oven
Optional: One egg. If you want a shiny finish on your object, brush it with a coat of slightly beaten raw egg before baking. (Do not perform this option if you are going to paint the object.)
Recipe
In a mixing bowl, combine and blend the flour and the salt.
With your knuckles, make a "well" or "pocket" in the center of the dry mixture.
Pour about 1/2 the water into the well.
Mix the "dough" with a fork or use your hands.
Add the remaining water.
Continue to work the dough (knead) with your hands until the "stickiness" is gone and the dough feels smooth to the touch (like clay) and it is not crumbly. (If the dough is too crumbly, add a few DROPS of water at a time to moisten the dough.) (If the dough feels too wet, add a PINCH of flour at a time and knead it more.)
Set your clay onto a flat work space and shape the project of your choice. (See "Tips")
Place the shaped object (s) on an ungreased cookie sheet/pizza pan.
Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees.
Bake your creation for about an hour. (Take a peek at it after 45 minutes, and then again every five minutes to avoid burning your creation.)
When baked, remove your project from the oven and allow it to completely cool and harden.
Paint or varnish your creation. (See "Things You'll Need: Optional")
Tips
If you are planning to hang your creation (such as a tree or wall ornament) poke a small hole in your object where you can affix a hanger/ribbon/string, etc. Use a kitchen skewer, the point of a knitting needle, a nail, or a pencil.
Create various flat shapes with cookie cutters.(Stars, animals, ovals, round circles, leaves, etc.)
Sculpt your own creation.
Optional: Paint. Apply paint or varnish after your project is baked and completely cooled. Use ordinary crafting acrylics to paint. Add crafter's varnish for a shiny finish.
For more tricky and longer term activities, use wire to make a frame and use something very solid to make permanent focus points, such as heads, hands and feet etc, and then use soft play dough to make the bits in between. The picture and more info come from the site at http://www.animateclay.com/.
Making life size dolls would be fun!!
Adding some Pico Crickets into the mix and having really big robots that can move would be startling!
