Grubby Gingerbread Men

Nicole and I came across some ornaments where they dipped Salt Dough shapes in melted wax and coffee grounds to give them a primative, grungy, look.  I thought I'd give it a try.  I didn't put holes to string them, so I instead put these guys in a little basket with burlap.  Cute.  This was a lot of fun!

Here's the way I made them...through trial & ERROR!

Make Salt Dough

Roll out and cut

find and OLD pan or metal can

find some coffee grounds

chop up ANY old candle

you can pre-dye your dough...or make a mistake and figure it out later and PAINT them instead!

BAKE 325 until hard

Mix melted wax on low heat on stove and add coffee grounds

DIP and dry! (I dipped more than once after wax set)

**Nicole informed me that the original grubby wax men were not made from salt dough, but rather real gingerbread.  I have seen some salt dough for ornaments made with spices and cloves that would naturally darken the dough?  Then there would be no painting involved.**

(If you want ornaments...I suggest using a straw to poke a hole into them BEFORE you cook them :))