Sherlock Holmes & Victorian London
Sherlock Holmes & the Two Cities of Victorian London: Crime, Class and Forensics Hooves clatter
Now listen here, it simply isn’t fair that there are loads of trophies and medals you can win for things like jumping and kicking, but very few are available for the things that really matter, like… I don’t know…
Salt dough medals are actually superior to real medals because they’re cheap to make, devastatingly attractive, up-cycled and eco-friendly.
Is there someone special in your life that deserves a homemade medal? Perhaps someone who has been extra kind or helped you overcome something that has troubled you? Why not make them a marvellous medal to show them how great they are? Go on, make their day! Let’s get started!
For the salt dough
– 2 small cups of flour
– 1 small cup of salt
– 1 small cup of water
– Acrylic paint (optional)
– Kitchen skewer
– Rolling pin
– Cookie cutter
For the brooch
– Safety pins
– Needle and thread
For the ribbon
A selection of the following:
– Gold paint
– Ribbon
– Fabric
– Unwanted costume jewellery
– Coloured card
– Collage papers
– Sequins
– Buttons
Make the salt dough
1 Put two small cups of flour into a mixing bowl. Add one cup of salt and one cup of water. Mix to form a dough. Add extra flour if the mixture is too wet.
2 Turn the dough out and knead. You can add a small blob of acrylic paint to colour your dough. We made a wide selection of colours including green, pink, yellow and blue. We left some plain too.
Model and bake
3 When your dough is ready, you can model it just like modelling clay. We rolled ours out and used a cookie cutter to get a disc shape. Don’t forget to take a kitchen skewer and make a small hole in your medal so it’s there when you come to attach it.
4 Place your wonderful creations on a baking tray. You can leave them to air dry for 48 hours but we didn’t have time for that, so we baked them on a low heat until they were solid. Leave to cool. (That’s important.)
5 Choose your ‘medal’. If you want you can take a dry paintbrush and dab on a bit of gold paint to highlight the medal and make it look super fancy.
Decorate and finish
6 This bit is up to you. There are loads of different ways to decorate and finish your medal. We used a mixture of fabric, costume jewellery, collage and stitch. You can start with a strip of card. Fold in the middle and cut the ends into a V shape.
7 Gather your collage-y bits and collage onto the front. Leave to dry.
8 Use a needle and thread to attach your medal to the pointy end. Make sure you go over the stitch lots of times to secure. Now stitch or tape the safety pin in place and proudly display your medal for all to see!
If you’re giving a medal to a deserving friend, you could wrap it up or present it to them like in an official ceremony!
If you enjoyed this magnificent make, then head over here to find out about subscribing to AQUILA magazine!
Words: HiLo Piccolo
Sherlock Holmes & the Two Cities of Victorian London: Crime, Class and Forensics Hooves clatter
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