A beautiful gift idea for anyone who spends a lot of time in the kitchen.

You will need...
4oz (100g) Plain Flour
3oz (75g) Salt
Hot Water
Paints
Spray varnish or clear lacquer Clock mechanism and clock hands (you will find these at craft shops or Maplin)

To make the Dough...

Begin by dissolving the salt in a small amount of hot water. Add the flour and mix to form dough. Add cold water if necessary but don't make the dough too sticky.

Now you're ready to model your clock face.

You need to start off with a base. Roll out some of the dough with a rolling pin. Use a large dinner plate or a tea tray to cut out a circle from the dough. This is the base of the clock face. Make a hole in the centre of the clock face, which is large enough to pass the clock spindle through with ease.

Roll two long sausages that are long enough to reach around the edge of the base. Twist the sausages together to create a nice rope effect. Fix the twisted strip around the base with a little cold water for glue.

Add fruit and veg to your clock face...

Use your hands to model and mould fruit or vegetable shapes out of dough, to put in place of the main numbers on the clock face - 12, 3, 6, and 9. Don't make the fruit and vegetables so large that the hands can not move past them when the clock is finished.

Once you have made your clock face put it in the oven on a low heat for two hours. It is in the oven to dry out, not to bake so keep the heat low.

When it comes out of the oven, leave it for a couple of days to dry out completely. Then paint, spray varnish and leave to dry.

Push the clock spindle through the hole and push on the hands. The mechanism has a hole for hanging the clock on the wall.

This article was posted on November 17, 2006