crafty/creative family: make edible peanut butter play dough

After seeing the crafty family: make play dough post, my friend Rochelle clued me in to the fact that some play doughs are edible. How have I made it this far without knowing about these recipes? Fun! Thank you, Rochelle!

Peanut Butter Play dough (Edible)
• 1 jar (18 oz. ) peanut butter

• 6 tsp honey

• non-fat dry milk or milk plus flour to make desired consistency

Mix all together.

Alternative to Peanut Butter Play dough (Edible)
This is good for kids who want the peanut butter play dough but are allergic/intolerant to milk found in other peanut butter play dough recipes.

• ½ cup peanut butter

• 2 Tbsp honey

• ½ cup flour

Mix all together.

crafty/creative family: make play dough

One of my favorite recipes is for a product that is not for eating--play dough. Okay, it gets eaten a bit sometimes, but only little nibbles when the kids are curious. I would rather my children nibble on this homemade play dough than the commercially made doughs.

Both of my children are now able to help make this recipe. They love to measure the ingredients, and it is okay if the measurements are slightly off because it is not for eating (except for the above mentioned nibbles).

This play dough will last for several months if it is stored in an air-tight container.

1 c water
1 TB oil
1/2 c salt
3-4 drops food coloring or 1/2 pack or so Kool Aid
1-4 c flour

Mix all ingredients except flour in a saucepan on medium heat. Stir until the salt is dissolved. Remove from heat and add flour, starting with one cup and increasing by TB, until the dough is the right consistency (doughy, not sticky, slightly powdery).

Create a Nursing Bra from a Regular Bra

My friend, Cassandra, shared this DIY resource for making a nursing bra out of a regular bra.

My friend, Sue, shared a resource for buying actual nursing bra clasps if you do not want to mess with the hook-n-eyes.

Thank you, Cassandra and Sue!

crafty/creative family: make a terra cotta bell

My son came home from his playgroup this week with a nifty wind chime made from terra cotta pots. I immediately wanted to make more to hang from our tree branches to fill our garden with more beautiful music. And so we are making more.

You will need:

• terra cotta pots
• 4 nuts (not the kind you eat) for each bell, larger than the drainage holes on the bottom of your pots
• twine or strong ribbon, rope, string
• water resistant paint (I used acrylic) or colored pencil (this is what my son used), crayon, marker
• and, of course, the usual added decor: beads, ribbons, bits, scraps, etc.

There are several ways these bells can be made. We followed our playgroup's lovely design (thank you Elizabeth!).

• Decorate 2 pots of different sizes, remember they will hang upside-down.
• When the paint is dry, tie the nuts to the twine about an inch from the bottom of the twine and then again at the top of the length you would need to allow the first nut to act as a clapper.
• Then string the twine through the drainage hole of the smaller pot first so that the pot rests on the nut.
• Tie another nut at the place on the twine that will create the desired distance between the two pots.
• String the twine through the drainage hole of the larger pot so that this pot rests on the nut.
• Tie another nut on the other side of the drainage hole (top of the bell) and create a loop with the twine for hanging.
• Further embellish as desired

My son made his bells with tiny pots and I used 3.5" and slightly larger pots for mine. The larger the pot, the deeper the pitch of the ring. I like the larger pots for the ease of embellishing, but the tiny pots have such a magical, pleasing tinkle; I think they are my favorite.

crafty/creative family: make a garden guardian

Meet Zopanoni, so named by my 3 1/2 year old, she is the guardian of our little sprouts, tender buds, and hopeful harvest. Inspired by scarecrows, fairies, and strong women, she has yet to be fully adorned with all of her sparkles and bells; she is a work-in-progress achieving her regalia and ephemera as the garden waxes then wanes. But she has enough right now to make beautiful music and a loving presence in our sweet little garden.


To create her, we used:

• bamboo for the vertical pole
• grape vine for the horizontal (arms)
• straw and grape vines bundled with twine for the head and wild hair
• fabric, bells, sparkles, mirror bits, ribbon, beads, etc. from SCRAP and around the house

Use what you have available in your yard and house! On a Nurture-neighborhood garden-ogling tour, my daughter and I met a woman who made her scarecrows with old brooms. We didn't have any old brooms, but we were very inspired, so we basically made one out of straw. The more bells, chimes, and shiny things you add, the more your garden will sparkle and sing and the safer from the birdies it will be.

crafty/creative family: make garden markers

As spring begins (happy spring to all), we have been finding ourselves drawn to the garden more and more despite the crazy Portland spring weather. Every bit of shining without clouds and every cloudy-yet-dryish chance we get we grab our seeds, boots, and shovels and get out. Playing in the dirt feels so good. I have saved seeds from years past to give my son something to plant when we have run out of seeds that are ready to be planted. He has gardens all over our yard and who knows, maybe we will have an extra bounty this year.

But Portland is Portland, the weather is fickle, and some days we just don't want to tough it out through a hail storm. While we are indoors, art projects are the next best thing to freely being messy in the dirt. Making garden markers is an activity that ties together two of our favorite activities!

What you will need:

• tongue depressors or Popsicle sticks or something similar (the wider the better)
• medium sized smooth rocks also make cool markers
• paint/water proof markers
• sealant that can withstand the elements

optional:

• ribbon, yarn, etc.
• beads
• glue that can withstand the elements
• pictures from magazines, etc.
• bendable wire
• bits, scraps, toys, etc.

Decorate the garden markers anyway that you would like. Write the name of the plant, paint a picture of the plant, decoupage a picture of the plant, create symbols of the plant, write a poem, blessing, quote, or thought about the plant...the possibilities are endless.

If you do not have sealant on-hand, you can create plant markers for the indoor starts or houseplants. Other favorite garden markers are random toys/parts of toys and plastic animal figurines to "keep watch" over the plants.

(pictures coming soon!)

crafty/creative family: make a terrarium

Terrariums are fun to create, educational, easy, and children love them.

You will need:

• a jar (glass or plastic) with a tight-fitting lid
• gravel
• charcoal (must be activated charcoal--can be found at most nurseries)
• sand
• moss or peat
• loose dirt/potting soil
• small hardy plants (water-loving)
• small objects for decoration

Start by cleaning the jar thoroughly. Add the gravel about 1/4 inch to cover the bottom. Add about the same amount of charcoal as you did the gravel. Combine the sand, moss/peat, and dirt and put the mixture on top of the charcoal. Add plants and decoration. We added moss on top of the dirt between the plants. Water the plants. Put the lid on...and that is it! You do not have to water it or do any other maintenance except an occasional pruning.

Succulent and/or cactus terrariums can be made with more sand in the soil-mix and no lid. This type of terrarium will need to be watered but not very often.