Hanging Heart
Materials required:
* Tracing Paper
* Pencil
* Salt dough
* Roller
* Rolling Pin
* Craft knife
* Acrylic or fabric paint
* Paintbrushes
* Gold paperclips
* Polyurethane matt varnish
* Glue
Procedure to make heart:
First prepare the salt dough to make the decoration. Mix together 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of salt. Add 1 cup of water gradually to the mixture until it is stiff but not sticky. Knead the dough for about ten minutes until it is smooth and manageable.
Roll the dough out on a roller or a flat surface with a rolling pin in 1cm thickness.
Draw or trace out a heart shaped design. Place the design over the rolled dough and mark the squares with a needle or a pin. Then cut out the heart carefully from the rolled dough. Smoothen and round the edges with a moistened finger. Alternatively you can cut out the design from the rolled dough on your own, with a knife without the help of the design
With a knife carefully deepen the lines of the squares without going too deep so that the squares are not cut off. You can either fill the heart with squares or leave both sides free as in the figure.
Cut a paperclip in half and insert into the top of the heart. Make as many hearts as you need. Allow to dry thoroughly for a few days OR Bake in a warm oven at 120o C/250oF for a short time, but take care not to cook them or they will yellow.
Paint with acrylic emulsion (latex), then paint in the colour of your choice, leaving alternate squares plain. Allow to dry. Apply five coats of varnish. Thread some ribbon through the loop made by the paper clip and tie in a bow. You can hang your hearts from the wall.