Handmade Easter decorations: sculpt them using baking soda paste!

Creating decorations with your own hands is an artistic activity that allows us to give expression to our imaginations and maybe even allows us to forget some of our worries for an afternoon. And if it comes to projects that we can do together with the children, it becomes an opportunity to create precious memories. Even Easter decorations can be made by hand, and to do this you can use different malleable pastes.

One of these pastes, which is easy and inexpensive to prepare at home, is based on baking soda and corn starch. This paste is actually similar to salt dough, but it has a different, more homogeneous and compact consistency. The disadvantage when compared to salt dough, however, is that it is more friable (i.e. it crumbles more easily), therefore it must be handled delicately.

To make baking soda paste you will need:

• 150 ml of water;
• 200 g of bicarbonate;
• 100 g of corn starch.

Preparation:

1. Pour the water into a saucepan and heat it up for a minute.
2. Add the baking soda and cornstarch, mixing well to avoid lumps. Warning: it will tend to solidify quickly, so keep stirring so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the saucepan.
3. When the mixture begins to detach itself from the walls of the saucepan, turn off the heat and pour everything onto a plate.
4. Let it cool down.
5. Wrap it in cling film.

At this point you can model and sculpt anything you want. Then let your creation dry well so that it hardens (the times depend on the size of the object you made), after which you can also paint your works as you wish.

One of the simplest ideas to make are egg-shaped ornaments to hang up: equip yourself with an egg-shaped mold (perhaps use a hard-boiled egg or an egg cup to assist in this task), roll out the dough into a sheet of half a centimeter or so and then use this to create all the shapes you wish.

Also remember to make holes for ribbons or strings which you will then use to hang up your eggs.

When your creations are completely dry, entertain yourself by painting them as you wish.

The idea of using a mold in the shape of hens is also nice: you can paint them in many different colors.

This modeling paste is also beautiful when left in its natural color, which, by the way, is perfect for bunnies. You could use them for a wreath to hang up in the house.

Alternatively, you could use a cookie cutter (or otherwise handy mold) in the shape of a bunny's head, and then decorate it with flowers and initials. It could be a nice gift idea to customise a package or a basket to give to someone at Easter. Or you could combine the various letters / initials on each bunny together for a good luck message.

Happy Easter!