Mould some salt dough into a gift for a child's door or wall decoration.
Any initial is easy.


Basics
Before you actually start modelling, it is a good idea to make a small sketch of the initial so that you can decide on the best position for any figure or other decoration such as flowers, fruit, an animal - whatever is meaningful to the person receiving it.

Letters with bars and horizontal lines, such as A, H, B and P, generally look best with the figure arranged over the bar. Letters like J, I and L usually look better with the figure leaning against the upright. There are rogue letters, such as K, W and N, but with a bit of jiggling about you will always find somewhere to fit the figure - so don't give up even if you have got a friend called Zaria!

You'll need
Original Dough
Cutters, moulding tools
Paint and varnish

Here's how
1 First draw the initial. Make sure that your dough is particularly well kneaded when you are making this type of initial, especially when shaping a letter with curves, such as B, D or P, as these tend to crack or dent if your dough is either too wet or too dry.

2 With perfectly kneaded dough and your little preparatory sketch to hand, roll out some ropes of dough in suitable lengths for your chosen initial. The ropes should be about as wide as two fingers held together.

3 Initials made from ropes of dough always look more professional if the corners are mitred and joins at other angles are cut to fit. However, do not let this prospect frighten you, because, unlike badly mitred wooden corners, mitres in dough can be gently coaxed into perfection using a modelling tool and with a bit of squeezing. Arrange the ropes of dough into the shape of your letter, making sure that all joins are dampened before fixing them together.

4 Build up the chosen figure and any other decoration such as flowers. When you have completed the arrangement, bake the initial at 145C for 2'/2 hours. When dry varnish back and front several times.

Tip: if you only put one hook in the initial it will probably hang at a crooked angle because of the unequal weight. Two hooks in the top with a ribbon running through them is better. If the initial is destined for a child's room, and particularly for the room door, add an anchoring hook at the bottom.

Source: Decorative Dough Joanna Jones (Merehurst)