The House Witch: Your Complete Guide to Creating a Magical Space with Rituals and Spells for Hearth and Home - Arin Murphy-Hiscock 2018

Creating Magical Figures and Symbols
Herbs, Crafts, and Other Hearth-Related Magic Work

This recipe creates a nonedible dough that you can use to make small figures, symbols, and ornaments. If you intend to dry and keep your creations, make sure they’re not too thick or large. This material is not designed for large-scale projects.

The basic dough is a neutral color, but you can color it by adding drops of food coloring, powdered tempera paint, or a small packet of drink crystals. It keeps well stored in self-sealing sandwich bags in the fridge for anywhere between two and three months.

Dough Variations

There are several variations of the recipe for this dough found online and in books of activities for children. Play with the ingredient proportions until you find a variation you like. This variation makes approximately 2 cups of dough.

You will need:

✵ 2 cups flour

✵ ³/₄ cup salt

✵ 2 tablespoons cream of tartar

✵ 2 cups water

✵ 1 tablespoon oil

✵ Food coloring or other coloring agent (optional)

1. In a medium saucepan over low heat, mix the dry ingredients.

2. In a measuring cup, mix the water and the oil. Add to the dry ingredients over low heat, stirring continually. Add the powdered coloring agent, if using.

3. Stir as the mixture thickens. Remove from heat when the mixture begins to pull away from the sides of the pot and forms a ball.

4. Allow the dough to cool. If you wish to color it with liquid or gel food coloring, separate the dough into as many colors as you intend to make and add a drop or two of the food coloring to each ball and knead it in.

5. To store the dough, seal it in zip-top plastic bags and press out as much air as possible. Store the bagged dough in the fridge. Allow it to come to room temperature before using it.

The creations you make out of this dough can be air-dried in a safe place; it will take approximately 1 week. Set them on a small square of waxed paper and leave them on a windowsill or on top of the fridge, turning them regularly. If you prefer to dry them in the oven, set them on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake them for at least 1 hour at approximately 250°F. Thicker objects may dry on the outside, and then the interiors may liquefy and run out of a crack, so heat them slowly. The resulting hard items will be fragile; handle them carefully. When dry, the objects may be painted and then varnished to help strengthen them.