AN INTRODUCTION TO BREADCRAFT

How to make jewelry, Christmas decorations, breadbaskets and such from a basic bread dough recipe and several variants. Kern's projects are classified according to purpose and difficulty, from easy napkin rings to more ambitious and surprisingly delicate-looking flowers. With added cinnamon, instant coffee, or other ingredients, the dough color and texture change in interesting ways; after baking, acrylic paint and two coats of varnish liven up the finished product. The dough itself (a simple flour, water, and salt concoction) can be baked in an oven--its big advantage over clay. The range of ideas specified here, without the freewheeling style of Ethie Williamson's Baker's Clay (1976), can satisfy beginners or inspire the experienced.