Craft Halloween Salt Dough Candy Corn

Candy corn is a staple for Halloween and fall. I not only love to eat them, but I also enjoy crafting fun items that depict their fun character. Mix up a batch of salt dough and make candy corn pins for children's party favors, or decorate your home with candy corn ornie bowl fillers or magnets. Salt dough is a cheap medium for crafting that has been around forever and children of all ages can complete a successful project. Three basic ingredients from your kitchen are all you need to create the dough.

These instructions use a quick baking method. I have left a note at the end of the article for those who are much more patient than I am.

Material Needed:

Flour
Salt
Water
Bowl, spoon and rolling pin
2-inch round metal biscuit cutter
Cookie sheet
Oven
White acrylic paint
Paintbrush
Pencil
Yellow acrylic paint
Orange acrylic paint
Clear spray sealer or clear brush-on varnish
Household cement
1-inch pin backs
Magnet disks

Step 1
Mix 2-cups of flour with 1-cup each of salt and water. Form the mixture into a dough ball. Turn the ball out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough is mixed well and soft. Roll the dough approximately 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.

Step 2
Form a candy corn shape with a 2-inch round metal biscuit cutter. I bought a cheap one at the dollar store. The metal was very pliable and forgiving, and I only needed my hands to bend it. If you make a wrong bend, simply straighten it and try again.

Step 3
Cut the dough with your candy corn cookie cutter and place the shapes on a cookie sheet. I was able to get 28 candy corns from one batch. The dough does not expand like cookies, but they do puff up. They can be placed close together on the cookie sheet. Bake in a 300 degree oven for approximately 30-40 minutes. Keep an eye on them. The thickness and size of the shapes will ultimately determine the baking time. They are done when they are hard. Don't worry about brown or cracked bottoms, they will be painted. Allow the candy corn shapes to cool completely.

Step 4
Paint the front, back and sides of each baked candy corn shape with white acrylic paint. Allow the paint to dry. Add additional coats if desired. The paint is introducing new moisture to the pieces, so they may soften slightly. Don't worry, they will harden again when they dry.

Step 5
Lightly pencil lines across the top width and sides of the candy corns, creating three equal sections. You can also eyeball this and eliminate the pencil marks. Paint the bottom sections using yellow acrylic paint. There is no need to paint the backs. Allow the paint to dry. Apply a second coat if desired. Paint the middle sections using orange acrylic paint. Allow the paint to dry. Apply a second coat if desired.

Step 6
Apply a clear spray sealer or a clear brush-on varnish to the entire surface of each shape to seal the paint. Some candy corns will be flatter than others. For those I make into pins or magnets and the puffier ones with cracks on the bottoms I use as ornie bowl fillers. Just place the bowl fillers in a bowl and add real candy corn around them. When all the candy has been eaten, you will still have a pretty display.

Step 7
For the pins and magnets, lay the candy corn shapes with the back sides facing up. Apply household cement to 1-inch pin backs or magnet disks. Position the pin backs or the magnets on the backs of the candy corn, 1 inch below the top point. Allow the cement to dry thoroughly. Note: The pins will hang better if the pin backs are attached horizontally.

Note: For flatter shapes with little to no puffing or cracking, bake in a 200 degree oven for 2 to 4 hours. The idea is to dry out the dough. I prefer the hotter, faster method because I am an impatient crafter and I like the fresh-baked-cookie look.