Glossy Skittles Paint

10 / 7 / 1310 / 7 / 13

Halloween is quickly approaching, which as a mama of a sugar-free kid, means it’s time to get extra creative. Creative with the goodies we make to hand out to trick-or-treaters, creative with the candy alternatives we have for Miss G, and creative with the mass amounts of treats she’ll inevitably come home with after Halloween night here at The Dunes.

So while we’re still not ready to let Miss G chow down on the sugary sweets she brings home from candy collecting with her little friends, we are more than happy to help her put it to use with art projects, learning activities, and science experiments, and that’s just what we did a couple of days ago. Using a bag of Skittles, a couple of other things we already had on hand and some inspiration from this post, we created a thick, sticky paint that smells delicious and dries with the most beautiful glossy finish.

SPARKLY Coloured Pasta for Beading, Crafting, and Sensory Play

9 / 27 / 1310 / 1 / 13

During a quick stop to my very favourite grocery store in all of Kuwait, Gracen and I came across ditalini pasta and both immediately saw the potential in its shape. She carefully selected a specific bag from the shelf and tossed it into our cart with gusto {and a giggle}.

Homemade Glitter Glue Paint

9 / 23 / 139 / 27 / 13

This summer, Gracen absolutely fell in love with a set of glittery glue paints that Grandma Charlotte had stashed away for her. They were different than regular glitter glue as you didn’t squeeze them on – they came in little pots that had brushes attached to the insides of the lids {much like nail polish does}. For several days, Grae sat in the shade of a tree and worked on painting a giant fruit box with them, delighted by how beautiful they looked when applied. So when she brought them up in conversation a few days ago, I figured we may as well try making a copy cat version since we didn’t bring them with us to Kuwait. And you know what? They turned out beautifully!

A Homemade Name Stamp

9 / 3 / 139 / 9 / 13

As suspected, Miss G is enjoying her 6-in-1 shape stamp so much that we decided to make another homemade stamp, this time focusing on the letters of her name.

A Homemade Shape Stamp

8 / 25 / 139 / 3 / 13

When you move overseas and take only things that can come along with you on the airplane, there are many things that just don’t make the cut. In the case of Miss G, we brought her clothes and shoes as would be expected, plus 2 rubbermaid bins packed full of good quality wooden toys and puzzles, a couple of games, craft supplies that aren’t readily available in Kuwait, her very favourite dress-up items and puppets, and as many soft covered books as would fit. One thing that didn’t make the cut however, was her awesome collection of wooden stamps. They’re bulky, heavy, and many are season specific, so they had to stay.

Shiny Condensed Milk Paint

1 / 8 / 131 / 14 / 13

A couple of days ago as Gracen was emptying and restocking Grandma Charlotte’s pantry shelves just for fun (obviously), she came across a can of condensed milk. GC had no idea why she had it or what she’d ever do with it, but I had an idea… Shiny homemade paint!

I’ve made this paint tons of times to use at the painting station in my Kindergarten classrooms, and it’s always been a hit. It’s bright and thick and glossy, and when used on an easel, it doesn’t drip. The best part is that when it dries, it maintains its sheen. Plus it’s super simple to make… In fact, Gracen made it mostly on her own – it’s that easy.

Here’s what you need to start with… A can of condensed milk, some food colouring, some small bowls or cups (muffin tins work well too), and some teaspoons.

To get started, we poured a little bit of condensed milk into each cup.

We went with 5 separate cups this time around, but you can choose to do more or less.

Next, Grae squirted in about 5 drops of liquid food colouring (more for an extra vibrant finish and less for a more pastel look).

We stuck to the basics and added purple, but obviously you can create any colours you choose.

Then my little helper gave each a good stir.

Here’s what we ended up with.

With our new paints made, it was time to get creating.

I’d say she was pleased with the results, wouldn’t you?

The other fun part about these paints is that they drizzle really nicely due to their thickness… And who doesn’t love some messy fun, right?

Here’s the end result. A beautiful masterpiece created by our beauty. ☺

The parts that were just painted on regularly took a few hours to dry, while the puddles took about a day and a half to lose all of their stickiness, but it does eventually dry and it does stay very shiny. Because of the milk and sugar content of this paint, I can’t say how long it will last for, but it looks lovely for now.

♥

Keep up with all the Mama.Papa.Bubba. fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.

Two Ingredient Bath Tub Paint

10 / 27 / 125 / 22 / 13

Tonight Gracen and I whipped up some insanely easy “paint” to amp up this evening’s bath time fun. The best news? It only contains two ingredients.

Before getting started, we rounded up a few things… Dr. Bronner’s Pure Castile Liquid Soap (ours is almond scented), some traditional liquid food colouring, a couple of paintbrushes, and some paint containers.

With our materials gathered, we got started by pouring some of our liquid soap into our containers.

Next, Gracen squeezed a few drops of food colouring into each.

And gently stirred the colour into the soap.

That’s it! Less than two minutes later and we were ready for bath time.

Once in the tub, Gracen happily painted the tiles with “numbers” and “zigzags” using her homemade paint. It was a messy, drippy, bubbly good time.

Another perk? We ended up with a blue and purple bubbly tub full of water.

And a squeaky clean toddler who smelled deliciously of almond.

When it came time for bed, we took the shower head down, gave the tiles a rinse, and watched all of our designs melt down the drain with almost no effort. I must admit, our white grout is tinted slightly pink and blue in a few places, but meh – it will fade with time. All in the name of good fun. ☺

Two Ingredient Bath Tub Paint

4 tablespoons of Dr. Bronner’s pure castile liquid soap
3 – 5 drops of liquid food colouring

Measure out soap. Add food colouring. Stir.

Have fun!

♥

The BEST Scented No Cook Play Dough

9 / 21 / 123 / 25 / 20

Gracen and I may have just stumbled upon the best. play dough. recipe. ever. today while combining my old go-to with a few other ideas we found around the net…. Now I know I said similar things about this recipe, but this new one involves no cooking (win!) and smells delish (double win!)

We did have to make a trip to the grocery store beforehand, as a couple of the ingredients are not things we regularly keep on hand, but it was well worth the trip. This is by far the softest, squishiest, smoothest, nicest feeling {and smelling} play dough I’ve ever come across.

{this post contains affiliate links}

Now before I share the recipe, I want to say that there are LOTS of factors at play when making play dough at home. It seems like it should be a simple enough task {and I promise that it is}, but there a few things to consider and I want to be sure that your play dough turns out well. Believe it or not, things like the elevation at which you live, the weather / humidity where you are, and how you measure your flour can all affect whether your dough turns out too sticky, too dry, or just right.

For the purpose of this recipe, know that I measure flour by scooping a heaping amount of flour into my stainless steel measuring up and pressing it down into the cup on the inside of the bag. Thus, my flour is fairly packed down in the measuring cup.

Also know that if your finished play dough turns out too wet, you can save it by adding a little bit of extra flour, bit by bit (just go slow here – you can overdo it quickly!) and kneading it in. At the opposite side of the spectrum, if your dough seems too dry or tough, you can add moisture and soften it up by adding tiny bits of one of the wet ingredients (boiling water, oil, or glycerine) at a time, again being careful not to overdo it.

The BEST Scented No-Cook Play Dough

1 cup of all-purpose flour (packed down into the measuring cup)
1/4 cup of table salt
1 tablespoon of cream of tartar
1 packet of Kool Aid , 1 packet of Frosting Creations Flavour Mix , or enough Wilton gel food colouring to create your desired colour*

1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 tablespoon of glycerine
3/4 cup of boiling water (measured in a dry measuring cup – this is important as wet and dry measures aren’t the same and using a wet measure will likely make your play dough too sticky)

*If using Kool-Aid or Frosting Creations, additional food colouring is not needed. You can also skip Kool-Aid / Frosting Creations all together and use the gel colouring for a coloured but unscented dough. Or leave out all three for a unscented, natural coloured dough.

Place all of the ingredients, save the boiling water, in a bowl and whisk well. Measure the water using your dry measuring set and add it to the bowl. Give the mixture a quick mix with a wooden spoon, banging off it off every once and a while. At this point, the mixture may seem too wet and sticky to make good play dough… Do not fret! Leave the semi-mixed dough on the counter to cool for 5 or so minutes. Afterwards, dump the mixture out onto the countertop and knead really well. You’ll know you’re done when the dough is fully cooled, soft and squishy, and the super smooth.

Enjoy!

FIY: Kool-Aid is a powdered drink mix that you add sugar and water to make ‘juice’ and Frosting Creation Flavour Mix is a powder used to flavour store-bought icing. Both can be used in this recipe to scent AND colour the play dough, but they can easily be left out for a natural, unscented dough or replaced with food colouring for a coloured, but unscented dough.

FIY #2: Non-edible glycerine is readily available in the first aid section of most grocery stores and edible glycerine is available where cake making supplies are sold.

FIY#3: This play dough will last for months if stored at room temperature in an air-tight container or bag. Do not refrigerate or store near a heat source or on top of the fridge.

FIY #4: When making this play dough, we use dry measuring cups only – even when measuring the boiling water.

Are you following us on Facebook and Instagram?

We’d love to have you!

Homemade Puffy Paint

9 / 11 / 129 / 27 / 13

7 times out of 10, if you ask Gracen what she’d like to do, she’ll answer “Bike ride!” or “Park!” Guaranteed, the other 3 times you’ll get a very enthusiastic “Paint!” So that’s just what we did today. With G on my lap, we browsed my Toddler Activities Pinterest board looking for a fun and new painting method to try. There were many options – wellie boot painting, muffin tin painting, fizzy sidewalk painting, salad spinner painting, bubble painting, and more – but the pin she selected? This homemade puffy paint recipe.

Though we stuck to the recipe fairly closely, we used a slightly different method to make it. Here’s what we gathered to get started… Water, salt, self-raising flour, food colouring, a zip-close bag, an ice cube tray, and some paint brushes.

I of course had the help of this monkey too. (I asked her to do something funny and this was her immediate reaction… Good to have a solid go-to funny face on deck for moments just like these.)

Puffy paint

Though you really don’t need it, we used a mason jar to hold our bag upright and open for us (a cup would work just as well) so that Grae could add ingredients without having to hold the bag open at the same time. First, she added the salt and flour to the bag.

Then we zipped it closed and she gave it a good shake.

Next, we added the water…

Zipped it closed again {making sure all of the air was out first}, and she smushed everything together until it formed a goopy paste (this was her favourite part).

Next, we cut the corner off of the bag.

With just a tiny bit of help, Grae squeezed the mixture out of the bag and into our ice cube tray.

Then she added several drops of food colouring to each compartment.

Using our paintbrushes, we stirred the colouring into the paste.

Then it was time to paint!

Although most posts about homemade puffy paint instruct you to microwave your artwork, we rarely use ours and I really didn’t want Grae sitting in front of the microwave peering in while each of her pieces ‘baked’. Instead, we popped ours into the oven for a few minutes on the lowest setting, and it seemed to work just as well (putting them in the sun to dry would probably work too and may give the paint more of an opportunity to rise also).

The result? Fully dry, yet slightly squishy paint blobs that can easily be hung or added to a art portfolio without crumbling apart.

Want to try for yourself? Here’s our recipe…

Homemade Puffy Paint

2 1/2 tablespoons of self-raising flour
2 1/2 tablespoons of salt
3 tablespoons of water (you can add more or less depending on your desired consistency, just be sure to not make it too thin, otherwise it won’t ‘puff’ well)
food colouring
1 zip-close bag
1 muffin tin or ice cube tray

Place the flour and salt into the bag, zip closed, and shake well. Add the water, zip close, and smush around until the mixture forms a smooth paste. Cut the tip off of one corner of the bag and squeeze the paste into your muffin tin or ice cube tray. Add food colouring and blend. Create your puffy paint masterpiece making sure to lay the paint on thick. Bake your artwork in a 150 degree oven for 2 to 4 minutes.

Have fun!

Dyed Pasta

6 / 13 / 129 / 12 / 13

I’ve been wanting to get Miss G a wooden beading set for a while now, but had a little idea when passing through the pasta aisle the other day… Why not just dye some rigatoni noodles bright, fun colours like I used to do for my Kindergarten students? I love old school art projects and the macaroni necklace is just that. Old school. Not to mention that dyed noodles aren’t only good for making necklaces… They’re great for sorting, patterning, crafting, and counting too. In the past, I’ve always used a combination of liquid food colouring and rubbing alcohol, but since I wanted Grae to be able to dye the pasta with me, I decided we’d try using vinegar instead. And I’m happy to report that it turned out just fine. Plus, Gracen loved the whole process. Add that to the fact that it’s super easy and cheap, and what do you have to lose? Here’s how to make your own coloured pasta…

Add about a sixth of a large bag of rigatoni to a zip-close bag already prepped with 1 teaspoon of vinegar and about 10 drops of liquid food colouring.

Shake like crazy to evenly distribute the colour and absorb all of the moisture.

Then dump the noodles out on a baking sheet and allow to dry. (If you order your colours right, you can minimize the number of plastic bags you use. We started with yellow, then did orange in the same bag, and then did the {more orange than anything} red. I had planned to just rinse out the bag and then do the cool colours, but by that time my little monkey had really taken a liking to the shaking bit and our bag was toast. We started fresh with a new bag, and did green first, then teal, and then blue.)

By the time we’d moved on to the cool colours, I realized it was a smart plan to double bag. Good thing, because Gracen went crazy.

In the end, this is what our pasta looked like. As you can see, I got a little carried away with the vinegar when dyeing the blues, but I think they’ll be just fine. We set the out in the solarium to dry, and hopefully we’ll be able to do something fun with them tomorrow. By then, I’m fairly certain Miss G will have said, “Papta (pasta) – pretty, pretty, pretty!” and “Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiyeee pretty papta” about a million times.

♥