Tuesday 4 December 2012

Advent calendar 4


Christmas is the time when you can go all out, think away any less is more missions, and just decorate yourself into a colour-exploding tizzy... 

However, should you still prefer a more modest approach to the festive season, perhaps this could be something for you...


A small branch, a rusty bucket (oh how I love my rusty buckets!) and some expensive ceramic designer stars  dangling from the twigs... Now, hang on a minute, you did not believe that last bit, did you!? No, that would not really be me, now would it...? Before you scroll down, can you guess what the stars are made from?


Making these was indeed a trip down memory lane..! As a child, I made innumerable "master pieces" from salt dough, which we in Swedish called "troll dough", perhaps referring to its inherent "magic powers" to create all sort of shapes. And yesterday it was time to revisit this childhood activity, as I wanted some small stars to hang on the twigs and could not be bothered to go to the cold shed in the garden to cut some out of wood.
***

I used 1dl salt, 2 dl flour, 1 dl water, mixed it all and kneaded it to a dough, then rolled it thin and cut small stars with a cookie cutter. I poked holes for the thread to go through and used one of my wooden stamps (see the image below) to create a pattern on some of the stars (some were left plain). I dried them in the oven, 100 degrees Celsius, ca 4 hours (the time can depend on your oven, the stars should be completely dry). When the stars were dry and had cooled down, I painted them with leftover wall paint (and yes, the perceptive among you will see that I was too lazy to take out the thread I had already tied to the stars...but no one will probably look close enough to notice this and shortcuts are allowed!).

***


(Above: The wooden stamp in an oriental-inspired table setting in the garden - if you want to see more, click here.)


Even though the branch in real life did not look as "minimalist" as it appears here (the stars seem to disappear in the photos here), I still felt it was missing a certain je ne sais quoi... so last night I added some...


... larch cones, which work really well as nature's own festive baubles.


Thank you SO much for stopping by and for your kind comments!
Warm regards to you all,
Helena

11 comments:

  1. Ha-ha! Så kul att få följa din kreativitet här i kalendern! Otroligt härligt och fantasifullt - smakfullt!
    Kramar
    Lisa

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alltid lika njutbart att få ta del av din kreativitet. Kram!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Loving this chocolate-free, low-cal, advent calendar - keep up the great work!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Helena, as usual, beautiful and inspirational!
    Allison

    ReplyDelete
  5. Alltid flotte bilder her hos
    deg, Helena ღ Kreativt og
    fantasifullt, du er bare flink
    Ønsker deg en fortsatt fin uke
    og adventstid ღ Klem fra Mette

    ReplyDelete
  6. Well, Helena, these ARE designer-stars. Every one is a special one... and they can´t be paid with money ;-)
    Claudia

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  7. Owww it is all so nice !!...love from me...xxx...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Fina Helena,

    Nu blev jag fnittrigt trolldegs-sugen här fram på nattimmarna, hihi. Jösses jag tror minsann att jag måste slänga ihop en batch i morgon jag också ;))
    De blev fantastiskt fina, dina trolldegsstjärnor..! ♥

    Hoppas att allt är väl med dig,
    Största kramen
    Mia

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete
  10. Nämen det här var ju lite kul... trolldeg, som jag funderat på hur man blandar ihop den. Och, igår kväll när jag zappade bland tv-kanalerna hamnade jag framför Kirstie Allsop´s julprogram som också gjorde små tjusiga granhängen av just trolldeg. Jaha då är det väl bara sätta igång och börja knåda sin egen nu då ;) Din rostiga hink med gren och granhänge är verkligen superfin!

    Kram Sanna

    ReplyDelete

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