So onward to my DIY Play dough experience! It's something I've wanted to try for a while, it is safe, all natural and I knew my son would love it.
Now that I had my coloring, I asked my friend who had given my son some home made play dough at a party for her recipe. It lasted months and was just perfect. She had a recipe she used from an old kids craft book and passed it on, (I don't know what book it's from) I used organic ingredients, cause that's what we use, but you can use whatever you usually use as well..
The recipe is-
5 cups of water
5 cups of flour
10 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups of salt
3 Tablespoons of cream of tartar
Coloring- I used natural food derived dye (see previous post)
Large Pot- Preferably stainless or enamel cast iron
Wooden Utensil
Heat water and salt over low, stirring until dissolved. Add 10 Tablespoons of oil. Add Flour. Keep stirring consistently. This took some time to get it all integrated. I had to up my temperature on my stove to get it going faster, it depends on your stove. The dough will start to pull away from the edges when stirred. When it's not sticky between your fingers it's done. I found my dough had to really become almost a big ball until it wasn't sticky. Then let it cool slightly in the pan, scrape it out onto parchment or waxed paper with a little flour on it. Let it cool.
Once just warm, I divided it into different balls so I could add my coloring. I took about 1/4 teaspoon size coloring gel and put it into the balls middle. I then hand kneaded it to get a consistent color. And repeated that for all the colors. Then you can take some dough of different colors, say yellow and blue and mix to make green, red and blue to make purple, etc.
It made alot of play dough! Maybe too much, but can you have too much? You can always put it in recycled jars, add a label or bow and give it away as gifts, party favors or host a play date and use it with other kids!
A "Single" size Version would be-
1 cup of water
1/2 cup salt
2 Tablespoons of Vegatable Oil
2 teaspoons of Cream of tartar
1 cup of flour
coloring
pot
wooden utensil
My son loves it. He points and says play dough play dough! Anything can be used to poke, prod or flatten play dough. Crayons, pencils, wooden blocks, small cars make cool treads, toys, fingers, noses...Or just squish it in your hand, make faces with it, roll it... It's all fun! It's a great home made toy that you know what's in it.
You can also put food grade essential oils in your play dough for a nice smell. But I don't have any experience with that (I did read lavender oil can have some effect on small boy babies estrogen levels, so I would keep that at a minimum if used)
HAVE FUN!!
I found this great Eric Carle printed fabric, perfect for cutting into separate animals and making dolls out of. I purchased it on Etsy.com but you can also find his fabrics on the official Eric Carle website.
When I got the fabric, I cut out each individual animal, leaving about a 1/2" of white border for stitching. Each animal was about 5-7" long and 3-4" high, a great size! I then found some bright colored fabrics for the backs and cut them the same size. I stitched around the animals, following the printed animal design and left open a 2" area for stuffing.
Then each was turned inside out, stuffed and hand sewn up. I made one for each child and a few for my son to play in his crib with, they are a good size for a toddlers hands.
The fabric was great for both girls and boys. The animals were cats, frogs, ducks, dogs, bears, horses and birds to name a few. (* Please note the Eric Carle fabrics are for personal use only, and cannot be sold commercially) They were a big hit and fun to give!
That completed the party favors! A balloon, bear mask, chunky crayons and an Eric Carle animal doll for each little one. To finish the bags, I made tags similar to the crayon tags on my computer, thanking everyone for coming and hand wrote everyones name.
Next..What's a party without party hats and cupcake toppers!!
Well, to have a childrens party, you need fun favors! So of course, they need to be inspired by Eric carle style..hmmm!???
So first, brights colors are a must! All the children are under 3 years old, so something toddler friendly. Of course they each will get a mask that we made previously. So I decided on crayons, a nice natural rubber punching balloon and a sewn stuffed doll with an Eric Care animal print. I purchased the balloons, easy! then I made chunky large crayons.
This was super easy. All you need is a box of crayons, a muffin tin or some sort of mold, vegetable spray or oil on a napkin to coat the mold and an oven.
First, you coat the mold lightly with vegetable oil. Next, you tear off the crayon wrappers and break them into pieces, I found an exacto blade works wonders, just slice down the side and it's done. Then you sprinkle the pieces in each mold. I tried to keep like colors together but you can make mixed or rainbow ones too.
I then preheated an oven to 250 degrees. I placed the muffin tin inside and waited for about 10 minutes, depending on your oven. Mine melted nicely, once totally melted, you take it out and let cool. To rush it, you can place it in the freezer, just be careful, it's hot! After it's set, just turn the tin over and hit, and they will come out super easy. (I did have one stick, and used a knife to help it out.)
I made a couple for each kid. I then placed them in a cello bag and created tags on my computer with the same hungry caterpillar dot design I used on the invites. each was then tied with a twisty tie. Cute! (For the much younger, use larger molds to create a very chunky crayon as you can see on the right)
I also had 2 nieces both over 3 years old coming on a later date, so I made them both crayon rolls. I used Eric Carle printed fabric along with organic cotton canvas to create their crayon rolls. (* Please note the Eric Carle fabrics are for personal use only, and cannot be made into items and sold commercially)
They had velcro closures and a handle for easy carrying. There is also a small pocket for a notebook, stickers or notes to keep with them. You never know what little girls might need!
Next..Eric Carle Party favor Animals Dolls...
Since it is an Eric Carle party, I must have a panda or polar bear in the invite! So I chose to go with the panda bear.
I found an image I liked and scanned it in. My invites were 5.5 x 8.5 with a border, so I sized the image to fit. I tried to find a font close enough to the book font, and used a phrase to start the invite.
I liked the dot pattern in "The Hungry Caterpillar" book, so used that for accents. To make his name, I used the Erc Carle Alphabet print, cut out each letter and made his name. (I will also use that idea for the banner) I then added all our info and printed them out.
And Whalla! Super cute personalized DIY invites.
Next Up..What to do for Eric Carle party favors??
