Well, this the total result of 2 hours spent trying to make a few Xmas ornaments out of flour, salt, and water. It sounded so easy that I thought even I could be a success at it but I was wrong.
About a dozen of us ladies went over to the clubhouse to learn this interesting new craft taught by Joann. She showed us a snowman and a lifelike cherry pie she'd made and they looked darned good. We all were given the ingredients and the recipe (2 parts flour, 2 parts salt, and 1 part water) and began mixing them up. Mine and Vicki's needed a bit more water, so we thought, and we went ahead and added it before Joann gave her warning...not to add any more water!
We struggled along and various lumps of a doughlike substance emerged from everyone's pots. Some were dry and flaky while others were acceptable. Mine was sort of acceptable and I thought everything would turn out okay. Uh, Uh!
Why would it be so hard to make 3 progressively larger balls for a snowman? Mine were cracked and the largest one's crack served as it's behind. Then we got silly and I made a few X-rated items for my snowman. Joann went ahead and put them in the microwave to cook (2 minutes). She put any that didnt' cook in that time into the stove oven to finish them off.
While the snowman was cooking I rolled out the dough and used Jo's cookie cutters to make a host of gingerbread men, stars, and hearts. These were really easy to do and I thought I'd found my area of expertise. No!
I didn't listen to Joann when she said we had to oil our tray before putting the dough people on it so mine went into the microwave with no oil. They stuck to the tray and it melted onto the microwave plate. After powering my little ornaments off the tray and cleaning the microwave plate, I put the last of my ornaments into the microwave on a greased tray and set it for 2 minutes...I thought.
While I was racing around trying to paint my snowman balls, the ornaments in the microwave erupted in flames and smoke filled the kitchen. Embarrassed, I cleaned up the mess while everyone else tried to clear the kitchen of smoke. The ornaments ended up burnt to a crisp and went into the garbage. Vicki felt sorry for me so she gave me a bunch of hers.
I left that craft class with a crumby looking snowman who needed his nose, hat, arms, and buttons glued on. I also had a load of star, heart, and gingerbread ornaments (some uncooked because I was afraid to use the microwave again) that need painting. I was a supreme failure at this interesting craft and my only bit of good luck was that I didn't try to make the cherry pie. I can't even begin to imagine what kind of havoc I could have caused if I'd set my aspirations that high.
I think I'll stick to Swedish weaving.
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