“DAD” Salt Dough Picture Frame

This “DAD” salt dough picture frame was a spur-of-the-moment creation that I made with the girls this week to surprise my husband when he got home from work. It would be the perfect handmade Father’s Day gift, but there’s no way we were waiting that long to give it to him! 🙂

Here is what we used to make our “DAD” salt dough picture frame:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup salt
• 2/3 cup water
• Food coloring gel (Buy here)
• Metallic silver Sharpie (Buy here)
• Reusable silicon baking mat (Buy here)
• Photographs

How to make a salt dough picture frame:

STEP ONE: Add 1 cup flour and 1 cup salt to a large mixing bowl. (We only had coarse Kosher salt on hand, but it worked just fine). Slowly add water, kneading along the way until you have a playdough-like consistency. You might not need to use the full 2/3 cup water.

STEP TWO: Add food coloring of your choice. We were going for a lime green, so we did 2 parts yellow to 1 part green. Start with just a couple drops and work into dough. Add more coloring until you reach your desired shade.

STEP THREE: Divide dough into three balls of even size. Roll each ball into a column and place on a reusable silicon baking mat. (These silicon mats are amazing! They only cost a few dollars and we use them over and over and over! SO worth getting!)

Press to form letters — make sure the letters are touching so they will stay together (though you can always glue later if needed).

STEP FOUR: Pressing VERY gently, write children’s initials with metallic Sharpie on the letters where you will place their photos. (Lilu was able to do this herself after I demonstrated how lightly to touch the dough).

STEP FIVE: Bake at 200°F for about 3 hours. If your dough is still soft, you may need to cook a little longer. Check your dough regularly as it bakes, as oven temperatures and cooking times may vary.

STEP SIX: Flip frame so bottom is facing up and bake for an additional hour at 250°.

STEP SEVEN: Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Glue photos to the back of the salt dough picture frame so your each child’s face peeks through the holes in the middle of the letters. (I used the Polaroid ZIP Mobile Printer to print photos directly from my phone…so awesome!!)

This was actually a lot easier to make than I expected and I LOVE how it turned out! My seven-year-old had so much fun making the dough and forming letters (hers actually looked better than mine!) My youngest had a blast watching and playing with a bit of the extra dough.

You could modify this salt dough picture frame to say “MOM” or other initials too. It is such an adorable kid-made gift idea! You could always show this to your significant other if he needs a little help thinking of a Mother’s Day gift! wink, wink

Be sure to pin this fun gift idea for later:

Last updated on November 30th, 2016 at 12:08 pm

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