Christmas light

My first married Christmas we decided to hunker down and not spend it with family.  We did not want to begin a tradition of one year at his parents and one year at mine.  

It was a strange yet magical Christmas, 

Salt dough heart ornaments for the Christmas tree

made all the more special because John sat with me to create our own ornaments for our very first Christmas tree together.  It set the tone for all the years that have followed.  

That year, 26 Christmas' ago we made heart-shaped troll deig (salt dough) ornaments and hung them on the tree with red ribbon.  We made them with love and laughter and who knew they would last for more than ten years.  We are now on our third set of red troll deig hearts and every year as we hang them, enough to fill the tree, my heart leaps a little in joy.

One of the many things that I love about the winter and the lead up to Christmas is all the lights, so many cultures have the same idea, light at this time of year is so important.  Adding that much-needed cheer and lightness to otherwise dark difficult and daunting months. 

Using troll deig and inspiration from a tealight holder that we have had for many years, I decided to try my hand at 3D troll deig and see if I could recreate my own tea light cone tree.

The tealight cone tree that gave me the inspiration

You can clearly see the two I made but in the dim
light of December days, I think I can get away with it

Troll deig (salt dough)

You will need:

250g plain flour 

125g salt 

100-150ml water 

template or design your own 

cardstock 

pen 

ruler 

knife

small cutters or a straw

sellotape

white acrylic paint

 

Template for cones

For the template:

♥  Cut out the template for cones onto heavy-duty card stock, the large cone needs sides of 15cm and the small cone needs sides of 9cm.

For the dough:

♥  Mix the flour and salt thoroughly.

♥  Add the water slowly until the mixture begins to form a dough and you can make it into a ball.  You do not want the dough to be too dry nor too wet, unhelpful of me I know, but it should be pliable without cracking and not sticky.   

The salt dough needs to be pliable without
being sticky or cracking too much

♥  Divide the ball into two pieces and then on a floured surface roll out one piece to about a thickness
of 3-4 mm.

♥  Place the template on the dough and cut out, I used a ruler to create straight edges and a sharp knife.

Use the template to cut our the cone shape

♥  Carefully cut out shapes for the light to be able to shine through, I used a very small cake decorating star cutter, but you can use a straw or cut out shapes freehand.  Remember to not cut out too many as that will reduce the stability of the 3D shape.

♥  Where the area is for the fold/glue line score some little marks on the salt dough to aid adhesion when forming into a 3D shape.

♥  Shape the template into a 3D form and secure on the fold glue line with sellotape.

♥  Next carefully repeat the template process with the salt dough, forming it into a 3D shape and carefully joining the seams together with a little bit of water and some gentle pressure.  The salt dough cone is fragile at this stage, so carefully place it over the 3D template and place on a baking sheet.

♥  Bake in the oven on the lowest setting for about 3 hours or until solid.

Bake the salt dough on the lowest temperature
of your oven for about 3 hours

♥  Once completely cooled, paint with acrylic paint, remember to NOT paint the inside!

♥  I have been using a real tea light inside mine but it would perhaps be safer using an electrical battery operated tea light instead.  I never leave mine unattended.

♥  With any spare salt dough, you can make ornaments or anything you like.  I made some star and heart cocktail stick toppers, they can be used for food or for jazzing up your house plants for Christmas!

Add salt dough decorations to your house plants

Homemade Fimo Nisse, salt dough
tea light Christmas cone trees and
plant decorations made from salt dough too

Can you spot the shop-bought cone and
my two homemade cones in the dining room?

A trio of Christmas tea light tree cones

♥  Happy hump day to you all, 

only 9 days till Christmas day!  ♥