These Corn Flour tags are so lovely and can be used in so many ways – gift tags, wall hangings, Christmas and Easter decorations, box tags and so the list goes on.
Why they’re extra awesome is they cost next to nothing to make, in fact you probably have everything you need in your kitchen right now to start.
There are a few tricks. Some people use an oven to dry them out, I find air drying achieves the best outcome. Lay your shapes carefully onto a flat surface. Cover and store them out of direct sunlight. After two days, turn your shapes over, cover them again and give them another few days. Don’t be tempted to expose them to full sunlight. I did this once, thinking I could quicken the process. What happened was a bit of a cracked up mess.
Here's What You Need:
Basic Shape:
1 Cup Bicarbonate Soda
1/2 Cup Corn Flour
3/4 Cup Warm Water
Saucepan
Rolling Pin
Cookie Cutters
Straw
Plastic wrap / Tea Towel
Tray
Fine Grit Sandpaper P120
Beyond Basic:
Mod Podge
Paint
Permanent Markers
String / Ribbon
Wooden Beads
Glue Gun
Here's How You Do It:
Step One
Place all ingredients into a saucepan and stir until contents dissolve.
Step Two
Place saucepan over medium heat on stove and stir constantly. After about 5 – 10 minutes your mixture will thicken into a dough like consistency, forming a ball in your saucepan. Carefully check to ensure the dough isn’t sticky to handle. Remove from stove and allow to cool.
Step Three
Sprinkle corn flour onto your work surface and kneed cooled dough for about a minute.
Step Four
Using a rolling pin, roll out dough to about 4 mm thickness and press out desired shapes with cookie cutter. Using a straw, press out small holes where required for threading.
Step Five
Lay out your shapes onto a lined baking tray and cover with plastic or a tea towel. Allow to dry for 4 days. You may notice the edges of your shapes rise a little. Turn them over and cover for another 4 days and they will flatten out. Within about 8 days your shapes should be completely dry and hard.
Step Six
Using a fine grade sand paper, sand your shapes on both side to achieve a smooth surface. Seal with a coat of Mod Podge and then paint or decorate with permanent maker.
Fun Ways to Use Your Shapes
Gift Tags
Using a permanent marker draw your design and write your message.
Christmas Decorations
Keeping decorations white looks fabulous but using a red permanent marker to draw some sweet designs also looks effective.
Garland
This is a little Christmas garland that hangs under my mantle piece. If you’re making a garland remember to pierce two holes into your shape so that it sits flat.
Container Label
Such a sweet container label. Make up a few labels for soups, jams, relishes etc. They’re great if your gifting food. They also come in handy as general kitchen labels.
Wall Hanging
Attach your shapes to a branch or piece of timber dowel for a sweet wall hanging. Play around with your string lengths. Once happy, glue the string into place using glue gun.
And there you have it, who would’ve thought that a mixture of bicarb soda, cornflour and water could produce such a gorgeous range of tags and decorations.
