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DIY | Cold Porcelain Christmas Decorations

Hands up if you are always shocked to see the Christmas stuff in the shops already *waves hand furiously in the air*. I’m not sure if the retailers actually do start putting their Christmas stuff out earlier, or if it is just that the years always seem to fly by so I get taken by surprise each time. Either way, come October, my thoughts always turn towards what Christmas crafts I would like to make this year. I always like to make a few new ones each year.

Recently my Mum showed me cold porcelain – it’s not actually porcelain, but the dough is fine to work with, and dries hard and white. Best of all, it is super easy to make and dries super hard. I thought it would be perfect to try making some tree ornaments.

The dough does dry fairly quickly so you need to have everything ready before you start mixing. You can pop it into a snap lock bag to store it for a while.

You will need:
1 1/2 c Cornflour (It works best with actual cornflour not wheaten cornflour) + a bit extra
1c PVA glue (sometime called elmer glue or school glue – it’s white but dries clear)
Paddle Pop stick (or similar)
Baking paper
Hand cream
Biscuit cutters
Drinking straw
Old container – don’t use something good, as once the dough dries you will never be able to get it all off – I used a large ice cream container
Twine and sharp pencils to decorate

1. In a large container add the cornflour followed by the glue.
2. Use the paddle pop stick to mix the dough together. It should mix fairly easily.
3. When the dough is thoroughly mixed, sprinkle some more cornflour onto a sheet of baking paper and turn the dough on to it.
4. Lather your hands generously with the hand cream and knead the dough until it is smooth (this will help the dough to stick less to your hands).
5. Keep adding a little more cornflour until the dough is smooth, satiny, and no longer sticky.

6. Divide the dough in half and place one half in a snap lock bag.
7. Place the remaining dough into the center of the baking paper. Place another piece of baking paper on top of the dough and roll until about 5mm thick.
8. Work quickly to punch out the decorations using biscuit cutters. I used letter punches to press the words into the dough, but you need to do this very quickly as the surface dries fast.

9. Use a straw to cut small holes for the twine
10. Place the cut dough onto a tray also lined with baking paper and allow to air dry for 48 hours or until completely hard.

11. Use twine to hang the decorations from.You can draw designs straight onto the hard clay with a pencil.

Here are a few tips I learnt during the process:
– dip the biscuit cutters into a little cornflour before cutting to make sure that the dough doesn’t stick or warp.
– the dough looks slightly translucent when it is set. You can make it more opaque or coloured by adding paint or whitener (like used in cake decorating).
– Turn the ornaments over after 24 hours to help them dry.
– I used our metal punches to press letters into some of the shapes. You need to press the punches in very quickly once the dough is rolled because it starts to dry and the letters won’t be deep or clear.
– Don’t use any equipment you really love, because once the dough dries, it is rock hard and will be stuck there forever (which is why I used an old icecream container).

So tell me, does Christmas really start earlier every year, or does it just seem that way? Have you used cold porcelain before?

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Comments

  1. Rae Hilhorst says

    November 2, 2014 at 7:58 am

    Pretty clever, never tried making them myself. As I write I am waiting for some of your mint meringues to be ready to leave the oven, a bit excited. They were so easy x

    Reply
  2. Sonia@ LIfe Love and Hiccups says

    October 6, 2014 at 11:16 am

    Oh now these I will have to make with my boys. Thanks hun – love this idea and it is something we havent tried before xx

    Reply
  3. Jo@Countrylifeexperiment says

    October 5, 2014 at 9:41 pm

    Thanks! I think so too…

    Reply
  4. Jo@Countrylifeexperiment says

    October 5, 2014 at 9:41 pm

    Yep. They keep really well.

    Reply
  5. Erin aussiebookthreads says

    October 5, 2014 at 9:37 pm

    Does this mean they can be stored and used year after year?

    Reply
  6. joolzmac1 says

    October 4, 2014 at 10:11 pm

    These are brilliant, they will look fantastic on your tree!

    Reply
  7. Jan says

    October 3, 2014 at 1:55 am

    Sounds like something small granddaughters could do here. Thanks.

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Jo

I'm a city girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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A lovely, easy Christmas with family, good food, a A lovely, easy Christmas with family, good food, a few presents, an afternoon swim and dinner on the veranda as the sun set. Time to stop and be thankful for the many blessings of the year. I hope you had a lovely Christmas too!
We have been mulling over how to fix up the drivew We have been mulling over how to fix up the driveway and lead up to our house for a while. Currently it’s just a dumping ground for old bits of metal and a big pile of mulch, but C would like to create a turning area and put in a garden. First up though, there’s a huge old stump that needs to go. What better excuse is there to have a fire on Sunday afternoon? C and the kids jumped on the quad bike and trailer, and hauled back a big pile of sticks and logs to help the stump burn. Once the fire was going, marshmallows were found and roasted. No better way to spend time together.
Team work makes the dream work. We were asked rec Team work makes the dream work. 
We were asked recently whether we “make” our kids work on the farm. The answer is of course not. Having said that, all three love to help out whenever they can. They all work hard because they want to; because they take pride in working hard and contributing in a meaningful way to our family life; because they love living on our farm and don’t remember life before we moved here. Whether it be planting trees or doing sheep work or feeding animals, they all want to be involved. As a parent, nothing is better than watching them grow in skill and confidence as they work along side you. We’re so glad that we get to spend time with our three, working together.
We’ve had an unexpected addition to the family ☘️🐑. She is a lot easier to look after than the other family members but she does try to escape her yard and head butt people. Poddy lambs are super cute but they tend to think they are a human. Clover the lamb is sure that Meg is her mum. Can’t think why… 🤔🤣
The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: toge The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: together, cooking damper around the remains of the bonfire.
It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got through shearing without a hitch (thankfully 🙏) but we’ve had a run of the flu followed by Covid run through the family since then. The kids and I have tested positive (this is my second time getting it 🦠) though so far C has managed to avoid it. There has been a lot of lying on the couch feeling pretty ordinary. Han had to reschedule her driving test for a 4th time due to Covid, which is disappointing for her because she wants her freedom and for us because it would be so much more convenient if she could drive herself places. Just to add in to the mix, our hot water system has chosen now as a good time to die so we’re on cold showers until we’re all out of iso. This is not meant to be a whinging post but sometimes life just sucks a bit and it’s good to be real. Fortunately, the sight of the fire going with a stack of wood next to it cheers us up. Things will improve soon. Onwards we go…

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Hi, I’m Jo

City girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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