Endless hours of fun....

Well, maybe not endless. The recipe did say it would last about 3 months. But when it has been raining for several days straight and I needed SOME sort of activity for Taryne, it provided endless hours of fun.

This weekend, Kyle worked both Saturday and Sunday. So that meant Taryne and I were on our own for entertainment most of the weekend. Today she was running around like crazy and was totally not into any of her other toys/activities. And since it was raining, we couldn't go to the park or to feed the ducks. So I decided to find a crafty type thing to do/make and finally settled on homemade play dough.

Every day when I pick Taryne up from school, she is playing with play dough. She is making shapes, using cookie cutters, and all sorts of utensils to play with the play dough.

The play dough was very easy to make....and it makes a TON of play dough. We could have made twice as many colors if we wanted. We divided the dough up into 7 balls and Taryne picked the colors she wanted.

Here is the recipe for the play dough. I found several others and just decided to pick one.

Recipe:

3 cups flour
1.5 cups salt
6 tsp. cream of tarter
3 tbsp. oil
3 cups water

Pour all ingredients into a large pot. Stir constantly over medium heat until a dough ball forms by pulling away from the sides. Knead dough until the texture matches play dough (1-2 minutes). Store in plastic container. Should last for at least 3 months.

Until next time...Gig'em!

Mod Podge...

So I follow alot of blogs...some are crafty while others involve baking or cooking and some are just about life. There are two blogs I follow that use Mod Podge on a consistent basis. I am not sure I have ever worked with Mod Podge before, but I had decided a while ago that I wanted to get a bottle and make something. Well, every time I made a trip to Hobby Lobby or Michael's I would totally forget about the Mod Podge until I was on my way home.

Las weekend I made a trip to Hobby Lobby to start scoping out the Christmas stuff and I had a list and Mod Podge was on my list.

Months ago I purchased a few wooden "T" cutouts and some cardboard "T" cutouts for crafty projects for Taryne and her cousin Theia. I painted one of the wooden "T" cutouts and hot glued some ribbon on it and gave it to Theia so she could hold her hair bows. I had plans to make one for Taryne as well, I just never got around to doing it. When I finally did, I hated the way it came out...the painted part. So I just stuck her wooden "T" in the closet and forgot about it. Until I started reading these Mod Podge blogs.

While at Hobby Lobby, I also purchased a sheet of scrapbook paper for this project. So all I used was Mod Podge, the wooden "T" cutout and a sheet of scrapbook paper.

To begin (sorry I don't have "in progress" pictures) I painted a thin layer of Mod Podge on the front of the "T" and then I placed it face down onto the BACK of the scrapbook paper. I then turned it over and smoothed out all the bubbles. I did a pretty good job, but I probably should get one of the little Mod Podge roller things to help out next time.

Once I had the bubbles out, I used an X Acto knife to trim the excess paper. Once I had all the excess trimmed off, I measured the side of the "T" and cut several strips in that width to Mod Podge to the side so it would have a finished look.

After all the paper was Mod Podged to the letter, I let it dry for about 20-30 minutes and then I applied a thin coat of Mod Podge over the front and sides of the letter. After letting that dry for at least 15 minutes I repeated that step 2 more times so it would have a nice seal. I plan to eventually add some ribbon to the bottom to hold all of Taryne's hair bows, but I have to find the perfect coordinating ribbon first.

Until next time...Gig'em!

Beautiful Butterflies...

Yesterday afternoon, after Taryne and I got home from day care, it was time for a diaper change. After I took her pants off, I noticed this red mark on her lower leg. I had no idea what it was from...She has been scratching her ear, head and face due to a breakout of baby eczema, so I thought, maybe she had a little blood on her fingers and it got on her leg...I didn't think any more of it and went on with the day.

Later in the afternoon, it was time for another diaper change and this time it was a messy diaper. When Taryne has a messy diaper, I have learned that I must remove her socks (if she is wearing them) because she tends to "kick" her feet and inevitably they get messy too. So...once I got her socks off, I noticed that her big toe and the next toe both had red around her nails...I finally concluded that they must have painted something that day at day care.

This morning, when I dropped Taryne off, I asked if they did some painting yesterday. And of course, they did...they made these beautiful butterflies. The wings on the butterflies are Taryne's footprints. That explains how the red spots ended up on her toes and leg.

Here is a pic of her foot...sort of hard to see the red around her toes.

Here is a pic of the butterfly...

Until next time...Gig'em!