homemade play dough
the other day, novi was in the mood for modeling, but our cans of store-bought play-doh were ka-put… so we whipped up a batch of our own play dough from ingredients we had in our kitchen. i consulted my trusty mudworks
- 4 cups flour
- 1 cup iodized salt
- 1.75 cups warm water
- mix in a bowl, knead 10 minutes, play!
we got to work creating the dough. novi helped every step of the way.
after we kneaded the dough for 10 minutes, it was a ball of potential energy waiting to become kinetic. (science nerdddd!)
anything is possible
and it did! novi had lots of fun with cookie cutters and clay tools all afternoon!
(as earthy and homemade as we try to be, the longest stint in her play was when the little bear clay dude was “talking on his iphone to duck.” sheesh.)
little bear talking on his iphone, which clearly needs an earpiece so he can avoid brain tumors
we decided to bake a few of the cut shapes to make (what else?!) ornaments! (this really was not what we set out to do, but it just sort of happened. again. hey, it’s december…) i brushed each one with mayonnaise prior to baking at 300 for one hour. before putting them in the oven, don’t forget to poke a hole in the ones you intend to hang – straws work well for this.
the next day novi painted the ornaments (and her fingers) with some sparkly acrylic paint.
once dry, we strung them with pretty ribbons and beads, and hung them on our tree. (well, a few were packaged in the mail to be delivered to the trees of friends and family… guess what you’re all getting this year…)
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Hi, I love your blog and your beautiful and very creative ideas!
I am planning my kids b-d party with salt dough! and I’ve got a few questions:
Why do you spread mayonnaise?
Is one hour enough for baking?
I will make a few big pieces ahead so they can start painting while their stuff is in the oven!
anything else I should know?
thanks again!!
hi paola – thank you for the kind words! glad you’re enjoying the site! what a fun birthday party theme!!! i put mayo on them because it was recommended in the mudworks book to do that to moisturize it so that it wouldn’t crack. you only need a TINY bit, if any. (i don’t think it mattered.) they do take an hour, but then you need to let them completely cool before painting, which may take a while during a party. i’d recommend having one per kid already baked and cooled for them to paint while they wait for the others, perhaps… have a great time and happy birthday to your kid(s)!
Thanks! My two kids –Ana (5) Xanti (3) were born exactly the same day, two years appart… quite a hazzle since they enjoy completely different activities! Ana is very artsy and creative while xanti loves balls, cars and can’t stay still… we will see how it goes…
thanks again and expect pics after the party! (feb 14)
the party was a big success girls spent hours making figures and then painting… while the boys ran away 10 minutes after we started playing!! they had cars and balls upstairs!! go figure!!
check out some pics at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8628308@N03/sets/72157623321646477/