Homemade Playdough

My two-year-old loves playdough, especially if I'm willing to roll it out for her to "make shapes" using cookie cutters I keep in a separate bag especially for playing with playdough.

I don't remember where we got this recipe for homemade playdough but it works as well as, or better, than the name brand stuff. Especially if you have a few tupperware containers or old Playdough canisters to put it in so that it doesn't dry out as quickly as in ziploc bags.

Best Playdough Recipe

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

1 cup water
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/2 Tablespoon oil

Mix ingredients together.

Add food coloring. (I find it best to separate the batch into 2 or 3 portions and then color and cook each portion separately. That way you get more colors in smaller quantities. Dividing the recipe into thirds makes each color the perfect size to fit into old Playdough cannisters.)

Cook slowly, stirring constantly until it becomes so thick you can hardly stir. Keep stirring and turning the dough over and over until thoroughly heated.

On the counter knead warm dough for a few minutes to finish mixing it.

Important note: The cream of tartar is essential! I once made a batch using only half the amount because I was running out. It looked fine when I made it, but a few days later when we got it out to play with again, it was oozey, gooey, wet, and way too sticky to play with. I tried reheating it, but that didn't fix it. There's something about the cream of tartar that keeps it from doing that.

Wax Paper and Crayon Ornaments

I forgot to take pictures of these before they were mailed to Grandma, so use your imagination!

First, I had the kids shred their old broken crayons using crayon sharpeners (pencil sharpeners are generally too small for crayons).  They put the sharpenings on wax paper, in a thin layer.  Then I put another layer of wax paper over top and ironed them until the sharpenings melted and ran together.  (Be sure to put an old rag underneath the wax paper and another over top of it so that if any crayon gets out, it won't get on your iron or ironing boards.)

Then the kids used cookie cutters to trace Christmas shapes on the wax paper (markers work best for writing on it), and cut them out.

Joseph did find that you can use a pen to score white lines on the paper, unfortunately, it tends to make the layers of paper and crayon separate from each other, too.

Even Michelle made a couple - she didn't get the sharpener bit, but it still looked good just with stripes of crayon that she had drawn on (the wax paper will stick to itself when you iron it, so don't worry about having holes in the layer of crayon).

Christmas Wreathe Ornaments

This was a fun one in my list of low-expenditure crafts. Some time ago, I decided to get rid of a couple of much-loved, but worn out maternity shirts. Then I realized that they were classic Christmas colors, so I hung onto them just in case they could be useful.

First, the kids helped me cut the shirts into strips, and then into approximately 3/4 in squares. (This was very approximate, neither shape nor size being an issue.)

After that, we took floral wire and strung the pieces of fabric onto the wire. To get through the fabric easier, I cut the thicker wire on an angle to give it a point, and I used a file to sharpen it a little. For the thinner wire, I found a large sewing needle and threaded the wire through it, using pliers to pinch it together just under the needle. Neither method was perfect, but my three-year-old was able to get the fabric onto her wire alright.

After we had about 8-9 inches of fabric on the wires, I wrapped them around in circles and twisted the two ends of wire together, being careful not to leave sharp ends sticking out. For two of them, I cut the ties off of one shirt and used a tie to make a nice bow at the top.

Voila!Mini Christmas wreathe door hangers (or Christmas tree ornaments)!

Christmas of Thanksgiving

In an effort to extend the meaning of Thanksgiving into our Christmas celebration, (and in consideration of our tight financial situation this year) we decided that we would put a moratorium on extra spending this year. We have plans for small one gift for each child (for example, our 6 year old will be getting a scooter that has been in storage at Grandpa's since it's original owner out grew it) from Santa, but that will be all from us.

(We also splurged for a Pass of All Passes for each of us so that we can enjoy the fun center and water parks next year. They were on a great discount at citydeals.com that I couldn't pass up. )

My husband and I also agreed that we would continue to spend the normal amounts on gas and groceries. This is mostly for me, since I've got a new baby and am already struggling to figure out what's for dinner each night. Anything that doesn't fall into the grocery or gas category, has to be discussed between the two of us before it is purchased.

So, Christmas will be made from things we have already. I'll try to post about some of the creative crafts that we come up with - we've already made wreathes from old t-shirts and Christmas ornaments from wax paper and used crayons. Many of our family will be receiving magnet boards, made from scrap metal from our shed and covered with fabric scraps.

My hope is that by focusing on what we have, I will learn to be more grateful for or comfortable circumstances, and less upset about things that we don't have. After all, while that new set of Pyrex that's on sale might be nice, we already have enough dishes to have a fully functional kitchen. So, all the adds are going in the recycling bin immediately (rather a sacrifice for me, since I normally love pouring over them to find the very best deals)!

Wish me luck!

Gratitude Trial

We had a trial run for our Christmas of Thanksgiving this week!

Thursday, the entire area was hit with a tornado-level wind storm.  Billions of dollars of damage was done, and 50,000 homes lost power.  We were lucky enough not to be one of the areas where the schools lost power in the morning and sent all of the kids home!  But, by 3:00pm, we were out of power, too!

It was rather nice to realize that we aren't too tied to the electrical line.  The first sign that something was wrong was when the wireless internet quit working.  My husband simply switched to using his phone to connect to the net, and assumed that our router had gone on the flake again.  He asked me about it eventually, and I gave him instructions for re-setting the router.  Then I went to the bathroom.  When the light switch didn't function, my mental light bulb went on!  We were out of power!

I had to switch the planned Christmas craft (we were supposed to do one the required an iron).  The kids and I enjoyed that, until the sun started going down and I realized that I was going to have to get creative with dinner!

We pulled out the Coleman stove, set it up outside, grabbed a bunch of bottled goods, and made taco soup.  I didn't have to open the fridge.  Then we set the table for dinner by candlelight (electric tea light, to be exact:))!

I was grateful that we are accustomed to going camping.  I was grateful that my children are accustomed to occasionally eating in the dark.  We were grateful for a laptop with a great battery, and a SmartPhone, so that my husband was able to continue working un-interrupted.  I was also very grateful that the power came back on before bed.  I wasn't looking forward to figuring out how to keep everyone warm (especially the new baby) during the night!  But we would have done just fine!

Fun Halloween Costumes

This is more for next year, but I'm pretty proud of our family costumes, so I thought I'd post some pictures.

This year, we became beekeepers (one hive in our yard, and one in my father-in-law's), so we thought we'd have the kids be bees and Mom and Dad would be beekeepers. That worked out pretty well, except that I never got around to making a second beekeeping outfit for myself (Dad wore the actual beekeepers jacket).

I got over-sized t-shirts on sale, and we spray painted them, using 2x4's to make the unpainted rows. Next time I think I'll try brush on paint, but it worked. They already had black pants/tights and shoes, so that was a done deal. For the head gear, I splurged at Michael's for the girls antennae, but our son thought they were too girly. I could have sworn he told me he didn't want antennae, but the afternoon before we were to don the costumes for the first time, he tearfully told me that he did want some, just not as a headband!

Fortunately, we happened to have some yellow pom-poms and brown pipe cleaner (black would have been better, but it worked). I used a hot glue gun to stick the pom-poms on, and he was happy. In fact, his antennae stayed on much longer than the girls did!

For wings, I remember that we had three old pair of dollar store fairy wings in the Halloween bin, so out they came to be spray painted along with the t-shirts. Certainly better than the cardboard cutouts I had envisioned!

Over the past week, those costumes have been worn at least 6 times. Taking them trick-or-treating together Monday night was a blast. Times like these make me happy to be a mother!

Foaming Soap for Less

I LOVE foaming soap. I have three small children who love to wash their hands, and the foaming soap leaves a lot smaller mess around the sink, as well as being easier for them to rinse off their hands. I think in the long run, we even use less soap with the foaming variety...

BUT I'm too cheap to pay twice as much for a container that has less soap! Then I found out that you can make your own foaming soap refills - from almost any liquid soap you like.

It's easy:

1) Put a small amount of liquid soap in the bottom of the foaming soap dispenser.

2) Add water to fill container. (Make sure you leave enough room to get the lid back on.

3) Shake gently until soap and water are mixed.

I've had my three foaming dispensers for over a year now. One of them is getting old and doesn't make the soap foam very much anymore, but the other two are still going strong. I've used liquid hand soap, dishwashing soap, and leftover soap from the old dispensers that I retired when I got these. It all works great!

Playset do's and don'ts

We have been wanting a playground set for our backyard for over a year. The problem: we wanted a nicer wood or large metal set, but didn't have the $500+ to get even a basic set. Over the years we've put up a couple wooden ones for various family and friends, so we're familiar with the time involved.

After watching the local classified ads for a couple of months, I was finally lucky enough to see a wood playset listed for $50 and be the first one to call about it. (I'd called on at least 5 others, but was always way down the list.) We were fortunate - it was Saturday afternoon, my father-in-law's truck and trailer were available, my husband was available, and the playset was only 20 minutes away.

So, we showed up, took some pictures, spent 2 hours taking the set apart and loading it in the trailer, got home, unloaded, fed the kids (it was well past dinner time by then), looked at each other and said "Now where do we start?" The picture is of the stack of pieces on our back porch!

It was Monday evening, Family Home Evening, before we got around to doing anything. We'd taken it apart in big pieces to make things easier, but it also meant that we couldn't exactly put it back together the normal way. We decided to lift up the platform of the fort, attach two of the corner posts to it, then lift up the other side and attach the other two posts.

Problem 1:

Which post goes in which corner? They're ALL different! I spent at least 20 minutes studying pictures, and still got two of them mixed up (fortunately we didn't have to take the posts out and move them:)

Problem 2:

When we lifted it up to put in the second set of posts, the first set twisted around, splintering the wood it was attached to!

Re-assemly came to an abrupt halt. We had to wait for the next day and a trip to the hardware store to get supplies to fix the broken piece.

After that, things went a little more smoothly. We were careful to add some bracing pieces to the corner posts before attaching them to the platform. We got some larger lug nuts to replace the ones that come with the set, hoping that that would make things sturdier. By the end of the day Tuesday, we had the playset mostly together - except for the rope ladder and picnic table which needed more extensive repairs. The kids were playing, and Mom was happy! The playset does creak quite a bit when the children all swing, but I think that's mostly just the nature of wooden playsets. I still need to get it painted before winter, but we'll get there - eventually!

Would I recommend this route to anyone else?

Yes, but only if you like puzzles, have extra time on your hands, and really can't afford to pay full price for one. Be sure to take lots of pictures, put all of your hardware in labeled plastic bags, and try to mark the bigger pieces so you can tell exactly where they go!

For those who don't meet the above qualifications: save your money to buy a new one. Even if you have to do the assemply yourself, it will at least come clearly marked and with instructions!