Notebooks of Scott

Thematic Attic has been having all sorts of summer activities this year, including the Artist Workshop Series where kids learn about great artists in history and do fun activities. One of the artists they learned about was Walt Disney.

For an activity, they followed in Disney’s footsteps and designed a theme park. I got to do the practice one. It’s an adventure theme park called Scottland.

I’ve discovered that salt dough has a very low “resolution,” meaning that the amount of detail you can mold into it is rather low. However, it’s extremely easy to make, non-toxic, and fun to work with. When you are trying to make a smooth surface, especially where two pieces of dough meet, it helps to push the dough around with a wet paint brush. Painting is also rather easy, though it helps to dilute the paint with a small amount of water so that it fills in the surface of the dough completely.

My recipe for salt dough:

• 1 cup salt
• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup water

Mix the salt and flour in the bowl, then add the water and mix until smooth. Extra flour or water may be needed to get the right consistency.

The dough we made for the workshop lasted in a sealed container for a week and may have lasted more had we tried to store it longer.

We redid the seasonal section at The Thematic Attic and part of that included an Edgar Allan Poe themed vignette.

It is mostly black and white with a few small colors interspersed and has an old typewriter, a picture of Lenore, a Raven, some greco-roman sculptures and an empty picture frame. The frame hangs above the desk and will later contain a silhouette of Poe and a raven. The silhouette will be placed back a little from the frame, thus allowing it to appear to move around in the frame as you move around it.