 Procedure
to make heart:
First prepare the salt dough to make the decoration. Mix together
2 cups of flour and 1 cup of salt. Add 1 cup of water gradually to the mixture
until it is stiff but not sticky. Knead the dough for about ten minutes until
it is smooth and manageable.
Roll the dough out on a roller
or a flat surface with a rolling pin in 1cm thickness.
Draw or trace
out a heart shaped design. Place the design over the rolled dough and mark the
squares with a needle or a pin. Then cut out the heart carefully from the rolled
dough. Smoothen and round the edges with a moistened finger. Alternatively you
can cut out the design from the rolled dough on your own, with a knife without
the help of the design
With
a knife carefully deepen the lines of the squares without going too deep
so that the squares are not cut off. You can either fill the heart with
squares or leave both sides free as in the figure.
 Cut
a  paperclip
in half and insert into the top of the heart. Make as many hearts as you need.
Allow to dry thoroughly for a few days OR Bake in a warm oven at 120o C/250oF
for a short time, but take care not to cook them or they will yellow.
Paint with acrylic emulsion (latex), then paint
in the colour of your choice,
leaving alternate squares plain. Allow to dry. Apply five coats of varnish. Thread
some ribbon through the loop made by the paper clip and tie in a bow. You can
hang your hearts from the wall.
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