Salt Dough Recipe

Use this for Halloween Decorations, Christmas Ornaments & Decorations, Gift Tags, Placecards, Necklaces, Lapel Pins, Magnets, etc. Could hot glue small ornaments to Greeting Cards too!

Toddler can help mix up the ingrediants, make some 'creations', and/or paint your creations. A project for any age!

½ cup salt
1 cup flour
½ cup water

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

2. Mix together, salt, flour, and water until dough is formed.

3. Knead the dough on a floured surface until the mixture is elastic and smooth.
If dough is too sticky, sprinkle with flour, continue to do so until stickiness is gone. Do not add too much flour, this will dry out the dough and will cause it to crack before you get a chance to bake it.

4. Roll out the dough to about ¼” thick with a rolling pin that has been dusted with flour.

5. Use cookie cutters to cut out as many shapes as you want.

6. Use a toothpick to make a hole toward the top of the shape. Poke the toothpick into the shape, then holding toothpick straight up and down, make a circular motion as if you were stirring something. Keep circling until the hole is the size you want. Or insert a paperclip.

7. Place all shapes onto an ungreased cookie sheet and place into the preheated oven.

8. Bake for 2 hours.

9. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

10. Paint.

11. When paint is dry, use glitter glue or glitter paint to put a sparkling cover coat on your ornaments.

12. Spray with varnish

13 When dry, thread ribbon through hole and tie in a knot in the back.


Tips, Techniques, Ideas:
http://www.angelfire.com/mo/creativeclutter/saltornaments.html

TIPS ON COLOURING DOUGH:
* Food colouring (red, green, blue, or yellow). Two or more food colours can be combined to make different colours and shades or for a marbled dough effect.

* Add spices that act as natural dyes e.g. cinnamon, curry powder, saffron or paprika.

* Add cocoa powder or instant coffee for different hues of brown.

* Wearing protective gloves add a little paint to the mixture then knead the dough until the paint is uniformly distributed through the mix.

Some pictures taken from the internet as ideas & examples:

Christmas Gifts for a Toddler to Make

Ive started to give some thought as to what my toddler can make for her relatives for Christmas. These ideas could also be used for Birthdays too of course.

Christmas Ornaments
recipe for salt dough: http://123mytoddlerandme.blogspot.com/2009/08/salt-dough-recipe.html

Picture Frames (either standing or magnet variety) Unfinished wooden frame that can be painted.

Bingo dabbers would make a funky polka dot design. Or perhaps decoupage with tissue paper, construction paper, magazine or catalogue pictures, old Christmas Cards, or even photographs.

Tote Bag - Canvas Bag and Fabric Crayons.

Haven't used these before but apparently the child draws on the bag (or shirt) with the crayons, then you iron the design with a piece of wax paper on top. Follow the directions on the crayon box since the directions may vary according to the brand.

Hot Trivet - Ceramic Tiles that are painted by the child and then clear coated with varnish. Glue felt on bottom to prevent scratched tabletops.

Vase - Clear Vase that is decoupaged (glue & paint brush - she'll love it!) with tissue paper.

I have many styles of clear vases that I find boring (I prefer coloured vases because I don't like seeing the stems) and will give away once decorated as presents. I'll make sure I get one for Christmas too! :-)

Candle Holder - same idea as vase - decoupage tissue paper onto candle holder. My 2yr old made this for her Grandma's birthday:

Magnets - Using wooden shapes, let child paint or colour. Stick a magnet on back. Another option: cut a tree shape from green felt. Let child help glue to cardboard or cardstock. Let child glue on small buttons or beads for the tree decorations. Glue a magnet to the back.

Camping with a Toddler - Necessities

Wipes! - even if toilet trained, bring these for the constant dirty hands & faces

First Aid Kit

Bug Repellant

Sunblock

Potty - If in-training or recently trained, a potty might be good to bring since some outhouses can be pretty scary.

Variety of toys that you only bring out if it rains (see separate Camping post)

Durable & Washable Toys - (see separate post on Camping)

Snacks - snack mix (see separate post in Food), Popcorn Twists, Fruit, Marshmallows, Meat & Cheese (cut up at home and put in plastic container), etc.

Disposable Camera

Rug or Mat outside Tent/Camper to keep a minimum of sanding coming inside

Clothesline - (Rope or folding wooden variety) There will be many wet items that will need to be hung up somewhere.

Extra Socks, Extra Blankets

CUPCAKE DECORATING IDEAS

These ideas compiled from a variety of magazines & online articles.

* FLOWER - Arrange cupcakes in a circle with one in the middle at the far side of a large platter. Use green construction paper to create a large stem & leaf.




* PIRATE - sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over white frosting and decorate with gold covered coins.

* PRINCESS - Pink frosting strewn with edible glitter and rose petals

* BABY SHOWER - Draw a baby face on each cupcake with icing, or simply pile up the frosting and stand a frosted animal cracker on top.

* BRIDAL SHOWER - Top with sugared edible flowers or candied fruit

* BIRTHDAY - Ice one letter on each cupcake and arrange to read "HAPPY BIRTHDAY (Child's Name)" on large serving tray
(I should have arranged this on a bigger platter to make it more flattering)



* SUNFLOWERS - Chocolate or yellow frosting with candy corn trimmed with a halo of orange candy corn 'petals'

* VALENTINE's DAY - Red Velvet cake with an inner core of chocolate and frosted with more chocolate. Top with candy hearts, kisses, or X's & O's.

* ST PATRICK's DAY - Green, Green and more Green.

*MUD / DIRT - Sprinkle chocolate frostinng with crushed chocolate cookies and have a candy worm slithering out of the center.

* EASTER - White cake and frosting. Cut marshmallows in half diagonally to form ears (frost the insides pink). Two more marshmallows make cheeks and a mini marshmallow cut in half makes bunny teeth. Use tiny candies for eyes; finish with a pink jelly bean nose.

* EASTER 2 - Sprinkle with coconut and nestle a few jelly beans in center

* HALLOWEEN - Ice with chocolate frosting and make spider legs with licorice and give them red cinnamon candies for eyes.

* DOGS / PUPPIES - Ice with chocolate frosting. Using crackers, one large brown candy and two smaller candies, and gel icing, create a puppy face.
(This was done for a Puppy Party my friend's 5yr old wanted)



* CHRISTMAS - Top with marshmallow snowmen, candy canes, or gingerbread figures.

* CHRISTMAS 2 - Ice half of your cupcakes in white and the other half in red. Alternate on large platter in the shape of a candy cane. *Option* Sprinkle them with crushed candy canes



* CANDY-TOPPED - Arrange candies on top in whatever design pleases you.

~~Decorate the tops with a variety of smarties or other small candy.


~~Arrange green & red smarties in a Christmas Wreath shape

~~Arrange gumdrops & jube jube in a flower shape (summer flower or Christmas Pointsettia)


~~Create a spider with black jube jubes and black licorice

If you are searching for a particular theme of cupcake, Google it! It's amazing all the ideas that are out there and many sites include the instructions on how to make it as well.

Disney's Family Fun Website: http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/special/specialfeature/cupcake-finder-birthday/

Camping with a Toddler - Activities

Some ideas of items & activities to keep a toddler occupied while out camping. Keep in mind that it might not always be sunny so you'll need some items for in the dining tent or camper.


Sand Toys: Bucket, Shovel, Sifter (could also use bowl, mixing spoon, funnel, etc. from the kitchen)

Ball

Small bag of Blocks

Crayons, Paper, and Stickers

Jigsaw Puzzle

Magnifying Glass (great for checking out all nature's goodies)

Bug Catcher

Doll w/ accessories (hard plastic doll, choose items that are easily washable)


Etch a Sketch

Lots of books

Finger Puppets

Playdough (store bought or homemade - see separate posts for recipes)

Nature Collage - Bring Paper & Glue. Go for a walk and collect sticks, leaves, etc. in a sand bucket.

Pet Rocks - Bring Acrylic Paint & Brushes. Find some large smooth rocks & decorate with faces or abstract art.


OTHER:
Drawing in the Sand

Collecting sticks for firewood


Searching for beach treasures


Swimming, Splashing, etc.

Campground Playground (if available)

Throwing a Ball or Soccer game

SNACKS!

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Check out this website for some great games you can print off and keep in the camping supplies for rainy weather.

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/summer/printables.htm

I printed out Dominos, Matching Game, and Bingo. There's a lot more to check out though so take a peek!
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Toddler Birthday Party Food Ideas

This was our menu at our 2yr olds Birthday Party. The party consisted of many kids and their parent(s) too so needed foods for both age groups.

Pigs in a Blanket
(1/2 hotdog wrapped in 1/2 a Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough - bake at 350 for 10mins - I pre bbq'd the hotdogs a wee bit first)

Cheese Slices

Pickles

Kielbassa & Garlic Sausage

Carrots, Cucumbers & Ranch Dip

Grapes & Watermelon

Veggie Dip (combination of cream cheese, sour cream, ranch dressing, and small bits of carrots, broccoli, green onion, pinch of garlic)

Mexican Dip (layered salsa, guacamole, sour cream with some taco seasoning and topped with tomatoes, green onions, and cheese)

Crackers, Tortilla Chips, Baguette Slices for the dips

Pretzels

Jar of Peanut Butter for those hard to please kids

Cake & Ice Cream

*The pigs in a blanket were a huge hit with even the parents and were the first thing to get eaten up*

Green Birthday Success!

We did a "Green" theme for our daughter's 2nd Birthday and it was a huge success. Here's some pictures of our decorations & activities.

There's also another post in the Birthday category with more details on a Green Birthday.

Decorations:
Two homemade banners made with felt, cord, and a glue gun. See separate post for more details.
Also made garland from our weekly flyers.

Craft:
I had several tins from my Cappucino Mix. I covered them in construction paper and then supplied the kids with stickers, ribbons, buttons, etc.

Some of the finished products:

The kids seemed quite excited about them and I heard comments from the parents that they thought it was a great craft.

Colouring Station:
My daughter had done a couple earlier in the week that we used to hang up as decorations.

Kids were supplied with crayons and colouring pages I had printed off the internet. We then hung them up.

Lots of fun with Water & Sand

Fun with Bubbles:
See recipes section for the bubble juice. For tools, we used funnels, potato masher, slotted spoons, etc.

They had fun but it was a little advanced for the younger kids. Some got soap in their eyes which they didn't enjoy.

Fun with Water & Minnows:
The biggest hit of the party seemd to be the clear rubbermaid bucket filled with water, rocks, a dozen minnows and some water toys. It was always surronded by kids and they had a great time with it. A few minnows were sacrificed but all in all I believe it was worth it!

Presents:
We asked on our homemade invitations for parents to consider giving a gently used toy or books wrapped in something recycled (newspaper, artwork, fabric, etc)

My daughter did receive a couple things like that and most of the presents had amazing artwork for wrapping paper and the most wonderful homemade cards.

Food: Cake was homemade. I didn't use any disposable dishes (that made for a lot of dish washing) and had finger foods so there were no utensils needed. I had washcloths set out for any mishaps so no papertowel would be inadvertantly used.



Loot Bags:
I had fun making these as I love crafts. See separate posts under Mommy Crafts. I made a little drawstring bag filled with peanut butter playdough, a cookie cutter, a small notebook, chunky homemade crayons, stickers, a thank you card made from some artwork, and little bags of candy.

Canada Day Flag

Materials:

White Paper (thicker is better, like cardstock)

Red Paint

Wooden Skewer or Dowel

Cut paper into rectangle

I let my daughter fingerpaint awhile on some paper and when her hands were covered thoroughly in paint, I borrowed her hand to make a handprint. I let her help paint the sides of the paper red so it resembles a Canadian Flag

I placed the wooden skewer along the edge and folded the paper over the skewer, glueing it into place.

We will proudly carry this at tomorrow's festivities!

Peanut Butter & Banana Pancakes

I wanted to give my daughter a breakfast different from her usual few items. Pancakes aren't really a healthy breakfast so I thought this would improve its nutricious value.

*This is the recipe off the Bisquick box with a few changes*

2 cups Bisquick Mix
1 cup Milk
2 Eggs
2 Mashed Bananas

Mix all together. Heat griddle (Grease if needed). Pour 1/4cup batter in. Wait for the bubbles and then flip. A minute more (approx) and they are done!

Spread pancake with Peanut Butter and fold in half. Cut into triangles for an easy sandwich-style pancake!

My daughter loves them. For my husband and myself, we use the same batter but then do the tradational syrup & butter and it's still yummy!

Another Healthy Pancake idea is to slather with cream cheese (with a bit of icing sugar & vanilla mixed in), load on the berries, and roll up. Yum!

Homemade Birthday Banner

In planning my daughter's Eco-friendly birthday party, I decided to make a banner that I could re-use for the next few years. I already had piles of felt that had been purchased over the years for various projects that had either not happened or not needed as much as purchased.

Materials:

Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks

Cord

Felt - various colours

Scissors

I went with yellow & white pennants as those were the only colours I had enough of in full sheets of felt. (I would have liked to used multiple colours for the penants but wanted to use up what I already had)

I cut out a triangle from one felt sheet and then used it as a template for all of the other triangles. I got three triangles from each sheet of felt.

I drew out the letters on various coloured felt pieces, cut them out, and hot glued them with the ink side down.

To add some more colour to the banner, I used some more triangles and added colourful circles to them. I used these before "Happy" and between "Happy Birthday" and at the end.

The easiest sewing-free way to hang them I thought would be to make little tabs and thread the cord through. Like a tab-top curtain panel would have.

It turned out great and I can't wait to start using it!

Recipe: Frozen Yoghurt Popsicle

1 1/2 cups flavoured Yoghurt
1 Banana
2 T Apple Juice

Mash Banana into the Apple Juice. Mix in the Yoghurt. Pour or spoon into popsicle molds.

*I always favoured grape koolaid popsicles as a kid but these are pretty yummy too and much healthier!*

Items to Paint?

* Paper (use the artwork for birthday cards for the grandparents or other relatives!)

* Large smooth Rock

* Large piece of Birch Bark

* Wooden Items (birdhouses, small boxes, picture frames, etc.)

* Cardboard containers (like those Hot Chocolate is in with plastic lid)

* Large pieces of paper to use to wrap gifts

* Lampshade (buy a used one and let kids have a hand at helping to decorate their room)

* Terracotta Pot



Using Special Glass Paints:

* Clear Glass Plate ( paint on underside of plate )

* Glass Jar (could be used for candy, cotton balls, change, etc.)

Painting Tools & Textures

Put a dab of paint on a plate. Add a squirt of dishwashing soap (for increased washability) and let them try these items for some interesting effects!

.
Potato Masher

Q-Tips

Bingo Dabber ------>

Drinking Straw (for making circles - not drinking the paint!)

Cookie Cutters

Toothbrush

Sponge

Toy Car (drive through the paint to make tracks!)

Thread Spool

Toothpicks

Twigs

Wild Flowers ------->

Stones

Acorns

Leaves

Feather

Hands, Fingers, Feet!


Also try food items as stamps:

Corn on the cob

1/2 Potato (Mom can carve into various shapes for fun stamps too)

1/2 Apple

1/2 Red or Green Pepper (obviously the colour doesn't matter!)

1/2 mushroom

Add to Paint for Texture:

Sand

Sawdust

Cornstarch

Flour

Playdough Colour Options

Tempura Paint Powder
Liquid food colouring
Paste food coloring (available in cake decorating stores, or section of craft store). They look more expensive than liquid, but you use tiny amounts to get great colors. They last for years.
Kool-Aid (unsweetened) for color and scent


GLITTER for sparkly playdough.

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Let the kids discover how colours are created by giving small balls of playdough.
One white ball, one green - what do they make?
One blue ball, one red - what do they make?
Etc.
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Playdough Recipes

** All are inedible ** - but not toxic

Store any version of playdough in an airtight container to ensure a longer lifespan.

Here are various recipes that I have compiled, depending on what ingredients you might have on hand.

*See separate post for ideas on Playdough Tools around your house.

COOKED PLAYDOUGH:

#1
1 cup flour
1 cup of water
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tarter
1 tablespoon of oil

Cook ingredients until they form a blob in the pan. Pour it out into a plastic container. Cover with damp cloth. Add food coloring if desired.


#2
1 cup water
1 cup salt
1/2 cup flour
Food coloring

Mix ingredients in pan. Add food coloring. Stir on low heat. When it thickens remove from heat. Put some on waxed paper or floured surface and roll out. Cut out objects. Air dry objects few days.


#3
1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup corn starch
3/4 cup water

Mix the baking soda and corn starch in a pot. Use hands to make sure all the lumps are broken up. Add water. The adult should put the pan on the stove over medium heat and stir constantly. As soon as the mixture gathers together, remove from the heat. When it cools, have your child knead it into a smooth playdough.
Note: Don't over cook this playdough or it will crumble when the children use it.


UNCOOKED PLAYDOUGH:

#1 (Coffee Scent!)
4 cups unsifted all purpose flour
1 cup salt
1/4 cup instant coffee
1 1/2 c warm water

Dissolve the coffee in the warm water. In another bowl, mix the flour and the salt. Make a well and add 1 cup of the coffee water into it. Mix with a fork or with your hands until smoother. Add more coffee water as needed: dough should be smooth not sticky or crumbling.


#2
1/4 cup salt
1 cup flour
1/4 cup water

Have your child mix the flour and salt in a bowl then add water. Knead and squeeze the dough to make a clay consistency. You may need to add more water.
Note: Your child will find that this playdough doesn't last as long as the cooked recipes.


#3
1 cup cold water
1 cup salt
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
Tempera paint or food coloring
3 cups flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch

In bowl, mix water, salt, oil, and enough tempera paint or food coloring to make a bright color.
Gradually add flour and cornstarch until the mixture reaches the consistency of bread dough.