Little Bit Of Czech Republic

According to Czech historians, the oldest research proves that this form of art began around 16th century.

Inspiration for original designs was drawn from surrounding nature in Valašsko. First it would be all types of local animals, and later even figurines and other shapes.

Each animal would represent something. For example :
– dove symbolized love and family peace
– fish symbolized quietness,peace
– frog would protect clear waters
– hedgehog would chase away sickness
– rooster was symbol of manliness
– sun gave life
– baby brought happiness
and so on.

This form of art was used as a display, and a reminder of the beauty that surrounds us. It would be often presented to children as gifts or used as decorative statement for various festivities.
This type of folk art has been passed on from previous generations and hopefully will never be forgotten.
Doug:
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vinegar

1) Place all ingredients in a bowl and stir with a spoon. Dough is very dry.
2) Pour it all on a clean counter top, and start kneading it by hand. Add additional tablespoon of water. Dip your hands in water to bring more moister to the dough.

3) After 2 minutes of constant kneading place the dough in a plastic bag and let rest for 1 hour. Dough will be more elastic and moist.

 

 

 

To work with this dough, pinch a little piece off, and work on one ornament at a time. This dough dries very fast, so you want to protect the remaining dough. Use piece of a wax paper to roll or sculpt the ornament on. Prepare useful tools for this project. It might include:
– Craft knife
-curved manicure scissors
-pen
-desired cookie cuter shapes
-small screw driver
-other screw drivers
-whole spices like pepper or allspice
-small brush
-drinking straw
-toothpick
-rolling pin
-baking sheet

 

First technique is using desirable cookie shapes. Roll a small piece of dough on a piece of wax paper, about 4 mm thick. Cut out your shape, gather the remaining dough, and add it to the rest of the dough. Use screw driver to press in designs around the edges, cut small incision with scissors to give a three-dimensional effect of spikes, place spices instead of eyes or just for decoration. Add additional pieces by simply wetting the connecting area. When your ornament is finished cut out a small hole at the top with a straw.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another technique is creating your own design, by drawing it on a piece of card stalk cutting it out, and using it as a pattern for cutting out your shape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another way of using this dough is by sculpting/shaping desired design from individual pieces ( people, wreaths, hoarse shoe……). Add leafs, flowers, bows, hearts and other shapes. Make sure you always wet the connecting area to insure secure connection.

Place done pieces on a backing sheet and let air dry till hard. Remove from the wax paper. Drying process depends on the thickness of your pieces. It could take a day or even two to dry. When dry, mix 1 egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of water, and brush evenly over the whole ornament. Place a parchment paper on a backing sheet and arrange all the coated ornaments on it. Preheat the oven to 280 F and bake for 20 minutes or till the pieces turn gold.