Christmas ornament #1

These are a great, classic ornament. It's basically just a dough that you can treat similar to cookie dough.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of flour
1/2 cup of salt.
Optional: 1/2 cup of instant oatmeal (helps with texture & hardness)
blend in water until it's a stiff dough. about 1/2 cup. You can add more flour to make it thicker. The finish dough should be stiff & not stick to the counter top or hands.

Roll dough out to about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. If you plan to slip a string through them to hang, make sure you punch a hole in them. I found using a straw work perfect. Bake shapes in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, flip over & bake an additional 5 minutes. When they're cool, they're ready to paint or hang.

Back from hiatus!

Sorry I've been away for so long. I got pregnant, had a baby, moved studios & homes & a few other crazy thing. Which took away a ton of time & energy. But we are all settled in now & ready to get back to crafting!!

A trolley or train ride is tons of fun in our house. We love going on the local trolley. This week it has a pumpkin face too!

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Project 7: Yarn painting.

Painting with yarn. It's a great trade-up of paintbrush painting. Plus it gives some great designs.

Cost: Free.
Prep time: 5 minutes
Play time: up to 15 minutes.

Materials.
Paper
Paint
Yarn

Take a piece of paper. I cut mine out in number shapes. Add a dollop of paint to the side. Dip your yarn into the paint similar to paintbrushes. Then run it, drop, or plop it on the page. Different movements make different patterns.

*Tip: cut the string 6-18 inches long.

Fall fun: pumpkin patch!

Every year I hit the pumpkin patch a few times. This year I think I started earlier then any other year. But it's so much fun now that my son is getting older. The local pumpkin patch gears the whole place to being a great family fun environment. We can check out the displays, play on the playground, pet some animals, and even watch a magic show. Here's a great website I found for information on fall events all over the US. http://www.pumpkinpatchesandmore.org/index.php

Here are some snapshots from our first trip.

Project 6: Baked dough art.

This is a great project when you don't have a lot of money, but what to get a lot out of it. This uses some staple on hand items, flour, salt and paint.

Cost: Free.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Play time: up to 30 minutes.

Materials.
Flour, salt and water, mixed in to playdough.
Cookie cutters
Microwave oven
Paint
Paint brushes

First mix up some simple play dough. I take about a cup of flour, 2 tbs or salt, and mix in water until it's a thick dough.


Then help your child roll out the dough, and cut shapes out with a cookie cutter.


Bake the cut-outs in the Microwave for 30 second intervals. They are done when the middle is no longer doughy.

When they're cool you can set them out and let your child paint them.


These make great gifts, and are adorable Christmas tree decorations. You can also make shapes with them, but baking thicker items can be difficult. This stuff doesn't smell very good when it burns.

Project 5: Shrinky Dinks

Shrinky Dinks are an awesome activity from when I was younger. If you can find them, get them. I got these for work a while ago, and made sure to stop by and buy a pack for myself too. They come with 6 sheets, I usually use 1 sheet a time and get 4 things out of it.

Cost: less then $5.
Prep time: 5 minutes
Play time: up to 20 minutes.

Materials.
Shrinky dinks
Oven
Permanent markers (Sharpies work best.)

Preheat your oven to the temp suggested on the package.

Then plop down a cut-out shape, and your markers.


Use an oven with a window. Have fun watching them shrivel up in a funky way. Make sure you don't take them out until they're flat. They will be very hot.

After they cool it's fun to compare how much they shrink. The Liam card on the right started out the same size as the big blank piece.