Bread Dough Jewelry Box

Inspiration can come from just about anywhere! Let Heidi Borchers of Inspired at Home show you how white bread and glue can become a dough for molding beautiful roses. Use those roses to adorn a jewelry box or for other crafts.
 

Materials:

• Aleene’s® Original Tacky Glue™
• Slice of white bread – crust removed
• Small disposable cup (for mixing bread dough)
• Zip top bag
• Craft stick
• Acrylic paint: flower pink, leaf green
• Embellishments: vintage buttons, craft pearls, beads
• Decorative box

Instructions:

Tear bread into cup. Add 1 tablespoon Aleene’s® Original Tacky Glue™. Mix with craft stick until a coarse ball begins to form. Transfer mixture to your hands and roll until ball of dough forms. This step might be messy for the first few minutes but as you continue to roll in your hands, the stickiness will diminish and the dough will form. Continue rolling for several more minutes until smooth.

Separate dough into several balls and place into zip bag. To color dough, remove one ball at a time, resealing bag to keep remaining dough moist. Add one drop of acrylic paint at a time and knead color into dough. Continue to add color one drop at a time until desired color is achieved. Return dough to plastic bag. Repeat to color remaining dough.

To make roses and leaves, follow how-to instructions.

Glue roses, leaves and embellishments onto top of box.

How to make roses:

Pinch off a pea-sized bit of dough. Squeeze the pea between your fingers to flatten it into a small, round piece the thickness of a piece of paper. To make the center of the rose, roll the flattened piece between your fingers, turning the top edge back slightly to look as if the rose were just beginning to unfurl.

Pinch off another pea-sized bit of dough and flatten it as before. Press the top edges back slightly to make a petal. Place the rose center in the center of this petal and wrap the petal around the center, gently pressing them together at the bottom.

Make another petal in the same manner. Place this petal opposite the first petal. If possible, look at a real rose while making your bread dough rose. Remember, not all rose petals are the same size. Place subsequent petals a bit higher on the rose, so that the turned back edges are even with the rose center.

Add 8 more petals in the same manner, overlapping the edges slightly, to complete the rose. Let the flower air-dry overnight. To glue the rose to a flat surface, cut off the bottom of the rose before it dries completely.

To make leaf, you will need a small ball of green dough. Pinch off a pea-sized piece and mold it into a teardrop shape. Flatten the teardrop so that it is a bit thicker than a piece of paper. Using a straight pin, make indentations in the top of the leaf for veins. Curl the leaf as desired and let dry. If desired, press leaves in place at bottom of the rose before it dries.