Butterflies

Today we finally made our return visit to Butterflies- the Swadlincote based HE group run by Alison Gardner. It is a very long way from home, but equally very close to BFF who we were both overjoyed to see with Big sis and Little bro.

The planned activity was salt dough, using a recipe from The Little Experience, a site I hadn't come across before.

1 cup of salt

2 cups of plain flour

1 cup of water

3 teaspons of lemon juice (optional, but will make your finished dough shapes harder)

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl and then add the water (and lemon juice if using) a little bit at a time. Keep stirring the ingredients and they should gradually come together to make a firm, smooth dough. You can either oven bake (up to 4 hours at 120C/250F/Gas Mark 1-2) turning every half hour, or leave to dry on a flat surface for 30-48 hours. Oven baking is quicker, but bigger shapes can sometimes crack as they are heated up.

The girls' first attempt at following the recipe was less than successful, but eventually Madi made some crotchets, quavers, minims and semibreves that she plans to paint black and hang in her window along a ribbon.

Little bro's pizza was perfect, and Big sis's angel was amazing!

We still wish we could see more of this fab family, but distance and work commitments are not to be- we'll keep trying!