Let's talk play dough.
Juniper is now at the age where she is mildly interested in the stuff; however, she has been known to, well...eat it. Disgusting, I know. I mean, what child does that?
(insert sarcastic tone here if you didn't already pick up on it)
While the smell of store bought play-doh immediately takes me back to my own childhood, I really don't want Juni eating it. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's going to hurt her. It's just...well...it kind of makes me gag and since I'm not 100% sure that it isn't going to make her even the teensy-weensiest bit sick, I thought I should try my hand at some of the homemade stuff.
I tried this recipe about a month ago, and it smelled amazing. Rosemary play dough? Yes please! But it was so sticky. We're talking can't-even-get-it-out-of-the-plastic-bag sticky. After a few play time attempts I threw it out. It was too much hassle, frustrating rather than fun and Juni wasn't interested.
This morning I found this recipe. The only ingredient I was lacking was cream of tartar so Juni and I went to the grocery store to pick some up.
Um...can we talk for a second about how expensive cream of tartar is????? I didn't even look at the price when I picked it up. I mean, come on! It's such a tiny little jar. Yeah, tiny little jar of over $6. What??? So expensive. But a little goes a long way so hopefully I won't be buying this spendy little item for awhile.
Here are the ingredients you'll need for the best homemade play dough I've found:
Oh, you'll also need a really cute assistant who is great at giving the camera all kinds of attitude.
Work the camera, Juni! The camera loves you!
So you put all the ingredients except the food coloring in a 2 quart pot set over low to medium low heat. It looks really lumpy but that's okay. Just stir and stir and stir until it starts to thicken and then you add the food coloring. Then you stir some more until you can't stir anymore because it feels like your arm will fall off.
Then put it on some wax paper to cool.
I'm sad you can't really see the purple color. Next time I won't be so stingy with the color.
Oh, I should also note that this whole stove process took me like 5 minutes, if that. My arm wanted to fall off because the mixture got so thick it was difficult to keep it moving.
Now comes the big test...
Will she like it?
Will it be too sticky?
Will she still love me if her play dough dreams don't come true???
Just kidding on that last one.
Success. She was enamored with it for approximately 7 minutes - a record!
Oh, the attention spans of toddlerhood.
I may have over done it with the play dough pictures.
Oh well.
Here is the totally easy recipe! If you want more detailed instructions, head on over to Musings From a Stay at Home Mom. Her pictures and instructions are fantastic.
Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 cup water
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/3 cup salt
1 Tbs vegetable oil
food coloring
Mix all the ingredients in a 2 quart pot over low to medium low heat. Once it starts to thicken up, add the food coloring. Keep stirring until the mixture is really thick and gathers around the spoon. Remove the dough to waxed paper to cool.
Enjoy!
