Creative Play with Play-Dough

Some fun things we've added to our stash of play-dough tools lately: spaghetti (uncooked, of course!) or other kinds of pasta, googly eyes, Cheerios, popsicle cleaners, and pipecleaners.  The kids had fun making play-dough monsters/aliens the other day.  Thanks to this homemade play-dough recipe (it really is super simple to make, as long as you have cream of tartar on hand!) and this Artful Parent post, where I got the creative play ideas.  Next on our list: a play-dough volcano!
 

Cloud Dough

Our summer afternoon experiments continue!  This time we worked with cloud dough, a.k.a. "moon dough," which is a moldable dough that is fun to play with and super easy to whip up.  Eight cups flour, one cup baby oil... that's it.  A pastry blender is a good way to mix out all the clumps.  I put it in a couple plastic bins, dropped in a bunch of tools (spatulas, spoons, plastic knives, and cups), and covered the table with newspaper.  Sure, there was a little mess to clean up afterwards (especially on Kate's side of the table!), but that was definitely worth it, since my kids easily played with this for a good hour.

Our Hot Summer Afternoon Experiment

Haven't done much crafting lately.  It's been a busy summer, and everything's been a little topsy-turvy.  We've moved our two oldest into the same bedroom, however, and I'll be using our fourth bedroom as a CRAFT ROOM!  The hubby is actually building and installing counters for me to use.  It'll be nice having a dedicated space for all my crafty endeavors, and being able to leave it out and shut the door for awhile, instead of hurrying to clean it all up when naptime has ended.  So, MY craftiness has been on the back burner.  But with the hot summers here in New Mexico and the inability to go outside in the afternoons, I've had to focus on giving the kiddos creative outlets.  We tried this experiment this week.  Add food coloring to little bowls of vinegar.  Fill a pan with baking soda.  Have kids use medicine droppers to squirt vinegar into the baking soda, and it fizzes all over the place!  Super fun.  It kept the kids occupied for a good solid hour... so I didn't feel so bad about them not having outside time!

Our Sidewalk Painting Adventure

Gotta love Pinterest!  It's where I've been getting all my best ideas nowadays.  Including this little recipe for Sidewalk Paint.  

Super easy to mix up: one cup of cornstarch and one cup of water.  Then just add food coloring!  I made it in six colors and put it in six-part muffin tins so each of the kiddos would have an individual paint set.  I armed them each with foam brushes and set them out to Van Gogh our driveway. 

 

Little Maggie was perfectly happy with a set of sidewalk chalk and a few crackers.

Strawberry Applique Onesie and Matching Bell-Bottomed Jeans

My adorable model doesn't like to sit still and smile for the camera, so it's a little difficult to get a good picture of her outfit.  But I designed this strawberry applique for her onesie and added a little ruffle to the bottom of some jeans that used to be Jack's.  So sweet!

2012's Valentine's Day Gear

So here are my three darlin' kiddos in their official Valentine's Day get-ups. We got the idea for Jack's shirt--a "Be Mine" monster/alien with three button eyes--at this blog post. After undertaking that behemoth of a project, I kept the girls' shirts simple, just a heart. And they each wore a stacked satin heart hair bow (which I can't find the tutorial for!). Yes, I know, my kids are super cute. They sure make my life fun!

"Be Mine" Bunting

I found a fun tutorial here for a Valentine Pillow Bunting and tried my own version, shown here. Reverse applique and embroidery--two fairly new techniques for me--made these cute little pillows to adorn a mantle, or wherever. My only problem was the little pillows don't hang quite straight, so I'm not taking a picture of them hanging up. Maybe next year I'll figure out a better way to hang 'em.

Yarn Felt Flower Wreath

My newest creation! Super-cute AND easy. I'd seen a couple done by friends on Facebook, and they led me to this tutorial, which gave props to the Itz Fitz Etsy shop. I made the mistake of first using a thin yarn, and realized about an hour into the project that this was gonna take FOREVER... so started again with a chunky yarn. Much better. I used both felt and fleece for the flowers. I love a project that doesn't have to be perfectly done to look good!

Kate's Christmas Bow

Homemade Playdough

Poor Kate was a little upset this morning when Brian and Jack went to Deming to pick up our "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake without her. I would have been a little worried about spending the morning with such a cranky girl... until I remembered a fun kids' kitchen project I'd been saving for awhile: homemade play-dough! The original idea I saw was for Candy Cane Playdough (get that "Artful Parent" tutorial here), which I think would be a lovely idea to give out as classroom gifts.



Today, however, we decided to play it simple and just do one plain batch. We had so much fun! Kate loves to help in the kitchen. And it made her forget all about her brother's trip to Deming.

Ingredients:
5 cups water
5 cups flour
2 1/2 cups salt
3 Tablespoons cream of tartar
10 Tablespoons vegetable oil
Food coloring

Instructions:
Mix water, salt, cream of tartar, and food coloring in a large pot. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring regularly until mixture is hot. Add oil. Stir in flour a cup at a time, stirring in between each addition. Each cup of flour will make the dough more and more difficult to stir as it becomes thicker! Mix until playdough pulls away from pan and is no longer sticky (pinch it between your fingers to test). Dump dough on counter, let cool a bit, then knead. Keep playdough in a freezer bag at room temperature. This recipe makes a lot and lasts for several months!
*Recipe from this "The Artful Parent" post.