Christmas decoratoins the Scandinavian way

Tree decorations made from troll deig 
(Salt dough) 

December 4th

Troll deig/salt dough Christmas decorations

My first Christmas with John I introduced him to the Scandinavian way of celebrating and we decided that our tree should only have handmade decorations.  In Norway when you ask what their favourite Christmas decoration is, the most treasured one,  it tends to invariably be the handmade ones either passed down the generations or ones the newest members of the family have made.  I have a now very fragile angel that my mother made when she was a little girl.  It's precious.

But onto my first Christmas with John.  My mother provided us with the troll deig recipe and we began to make our Christmas decorations together, all hearts in different sizes and eventually painted red.  The little tree we had that year was the smallest I've ever had but it was the prettiest adorned with my future husband to be and my handmade decorations.

What is troll deig?  It is the humble salt dough, if you have never made any or used it before, I urge you to have a go, it's very versatile and made correctly can last for many many years.  I am not totally sure but think I remember saying to the family last year that our troll deig decorations were beginning to show their age.  Therefore I made some more this year, only time will tell when I venture into the loft and bring out the Christmas paraphernalia whether I needed to make more or not.  This year's decorations are the third set we will have made in 26 years.  Not bad going for a bit of salt and flour!  As adults, we have fun making them, and teenagers pretend it's a chore, but secretly enjoy this make and it is a brilliant thing to entertain the small ones in the family.  Give it a go, be as creative or as silly as you like with it.

Troll Deig

You will need:
1 part salt: 2 parts flour: 1 part water

1 tablespoon of cooking oil

Instructions:

♥  Mix the flour and salt well in a bowl.  This is essential to ensure the salt will dissolve and allow for a smooth dough.

Cut out using any seasonal shapes,
don't forget to add a hole if
you are going to hang them

♥  Next, in a separate container mix the oil and the water together, then pour over the dry ingredients.

♥  Knead well for 10-15 minutes.   This too is important to ensure a smooth dough.  The dough should now be quite firm, a good test to see if it is ready is to roll it into a ball if it retains it shapes after 3 minutes the dough is ready. 

♥  You can at this point add food colouring to dye your dough, I do not do this and prefer to paint them with acrylic paint once they are cooled. 

♥  For best results place the troll deig (dough) in a plastic bag and put it in the fridge for at least one hour before rolling out. 

♥  When ready create your Christmas tree decorations or any other shape either 2D or 3D.  Remember for hanging decorations to make a hole, I use a straw, to allow for the thread for hanging or even a matchstick if the ornament is small.

Pace the troll deig shapes on
a baking tray with greaseproof paper

♥  Place the troll deig on baking sheets with greaseproof paper and put into a preheated oven at 100 degrees Celcius for about 4-5 hours or until fully hardened.  Allow to cool thoroughly before painting.  If you can I leave a few days before painting, but this is not essential.  Especially if working with small children they are generally too impatient to wait that long!

♥  I paint my troll deig with either ready mixed poster paint or acrylic.  Make sure to cover the whole decoration and the sides too!

♥  Once the paint has dried, add ribbon and decorate your tree.

Troll deig Christmas heart decorations

Make hole in your troll deig for hanging with
either a straw or a matchstick

Once dried in the oven and cooled troll deig
is ready for painting and decorating

Remember to paint the sides of the troll deig too

Troll deig paint drying, side one

Once the paint has dried turn the troll
deig over and paint the other side

Add ribbon to complete the look of troll deig hanging decorations

Add some ribbon to the troll deig decorations 
and hang on the tree!

A tree full of troll deig decorations

Christmas tree at night

♥  How are your Christmas preparations coming along?