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Country Craft Projects - Dough Kids
Dough Recipe: In a large
saucepan, mix one cup of table salt with one tablespoonful of love oil. Sit in
one cup of boiling water and let the liquid stand until cool. Using a wooden
spoon gradually add two cups of white, all-purpose flour. With both hands, knead
the dough for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and no longer
sticky. YIELD: 6, happy-chubby kids.
Now, Preheat oven to 350°.
Next: Use carbon
paper, trace the body and head patterns below onto cardboard.
Head
Pattern (Left) - Body Pattern (Right)
Place your cardboard pattern cookie-fashion on top of a thick
slab of dough. Use a safety razor blade or an X-acto knife to cut around the
pattern and dough, then lift off the pattern. Bodies on all figures should be
slightly rounded and smooth. Wetting just your fingertips, smooth and round the
sides of the body slightly. Bodies are also the kids clothes, so to give the
feel of motion, turn ends up slightly on the little girl's hem. To make
trousers on the boys, cut less than half the way up using scissors or your
blade. Cut cuffs on pants straight using a blade.
Next, make the head. Please notice that the heads are slightly
tear shaped, and are made from a ball of dough about the size of a ping-pong
ball. Shape by hand using pattern to determine correct size. Then, wet the neck
area of the body and place the head on at an angle. You will find that different
expressions can be achieved by the way the head is placed on the body. Note:
Heads should be slightly larger in proportion to their bodies.
Face Features: Experiment on a round piece of dough to find
the correct way to place the features of the face before actually doing it on
the heads you will be using. First, roll two tiny pieces of dough into balls and
then flatten (these will be the cheeks). Next come the eyes. Use cuticle
scissors in an upside down position and directly above each cheek snip out an
eye socket. The dough "V" sticking up will become the upper eyelid.
Using the rounded end of a hairpin or similar object (paper clip), carefully
lift the upper eyelid and pop a peppercorn into each socket, making sure
not to push the peppercorn too far into the dough. Smooth the upper lit slightly
over the eye. Eyebrows are also made by using the rounded end of the hairpin.
For the mouth, sad or smiling mouths can be made in the following manner. Roll a
small ball of dough into a cylinder, wet the mouth area and put into place,
again using the rounded end of a hair pin, separate the lips just a whisper. Up
for smiles, down for frowns. Practice these techniques until you are pleased
with your results. Nose: Roll a tiny, tiny ball of dough, lick with the tip of
your tongue and put it where it goes!
Hair: Fill a garlic press with dough, squeeze, and out
comes hair. You may also use a sieve or a small piece of window screen.
Hats and Bonnets: You should practice these and place them on
the kids before placing the facial features. There is no way to instruct you on
how to create these, so you will simply have to practice, practice, practice or
leave their heads with hair only.
Clothes: Aprons and pinafores are rolled and cut
from dough and placed on slightly moistened bodies. You can make straps, sashes,
buttons, cuffs, patches, pockets, etc., by shaping pieces of dough, moistening and
attaching where desired. The more you practice, the more accents you can create.
Shoes: Two oval shapes of dough make the shoes, lap one
over the other.
Arms and hands: The arms are the sleeves and these are
just slightly flattened, curved, finger formed coils of dough applied directly
under the shoulders. The hands are made by flattening a small ball of dough and
then slightly cup it with a Q-tip. Then use the cuticle scissors to make four
short cuts to form the fingers. Use a toothpick to separate them and make
knuckle dimples.
Baking: Place the kids in the preheated oven for one
hour. Remove from oven and while still warm, wash their faces and hands with a
Q-tip covered with a thin film of mayonnaise.
Painting: Use watercolors to paint face, facial
features and hands. After you have finished washing and painting, put them back
in the over for an additional 15 minutes. Allow them to cool to room
temperature and begin painting remainder of each kid as desired. Use bright
happy colors.
Glazing: Turn your kids over to sign your name on each
one before glazing. When paints have completely dried, either coat them with a
clear acrylic spray, or brush on All-Purpose Glaze. ENJOY YOUR KIDS!
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