Snow Day Craft Fails

Things have been hectic around here these last few days. Sickness, sickness, and more sickness. We're falling like dominoes, and I really hope that I am the last domino in the line. I should probably be resting, but I feel the need to be writing for some reason. (Probably the fever. As you may recall, that's what happened the last time I had a fever.) Anyway, it seemed like a good time to share some snow day activities from last week -- the ones that were less than stellar. (I do try to keep it real so you know that not all of my craft endeavors are home runs!)

First up, we tried something that this website referred to as "Sparkle Snow Paint." For the record, this does make a good homemade paint. In fact, while mixing it up, I thought to myself, Haven't we made this before? Yep, pretty sure we added food coloring and called it "puffy paint." Yes, it turned out to be the very same recipe: 1/2 cup water + 1/2 cup salt + 1/2 cup flour, mixed together and put into squeeze bottles. While this works well for homemade puffy paint, my complaint is that it is not sparkly. Also, if you are using unbleached flour, it's not even white! For future reference, if I want it to be sparkly, I will add some glitter.

{Puffy Paint Snowflake by Mia, Age 6}

The second homemade craft material experiment was making paste. I had never before made any sort of glue, but it was on my mental to-do list for the past few months, so I decided it was time to test this out. I have an older edition (from 1994) of The Little Hands Art Book, which is where I found this recipe for "Flour Paste."

Following the directions, I combined 1/2 cup flour with 2/3 cup water. The problem is that this seemed to be too watery of a consistency. It was wet for glue, and certainly too wet for "paste," which should be quite thick, at least the way I remember it from my elementary school days. The other problem I encountered is that it called for "oil of peppermint or oil of wintergreen," and I was not 100% sure was meant by that. I took it to mean essential oils, so I used a few drops of peppermint essential oil since I had that on hand for the homemade bath salts. I may be entirely wrong, though.

This "paste" smells delightful, but it looks disgusting. I put some into an old glue bottle and gave it to Mia to test out. She found that it did work as an adhesive, but she agreed with my assessment that it was too thin and watery. I hoped that it would eventually "set" but no such luck. There is a layer of putrid looking paste topped by a layer of liquidy goo -- and I have a half-pint canning jar full of this gross-looking "paste" which is supposed to last a couple of months. (Evidently, the oil -- if I used it correctly -- acts as a preservative of some sort.) That's what I call a craft-astrophe. Really, it's so nasty looking, I have decided to not include a photo!

What's the Opposite of the Midas Touch?

Today was not my day. The dog threw up on the carpet. Logan peed on the sofa. (Some day, I will tell the story of what a pain it has been to get him fully toilet trained, but that tale will have to wait.) I had a pomegranate catastrophe. (That video I saw a few weeks back in which the guy claimed he had an "easier" way to cut them without having to have your hands in a bowl of icy water... and I thought, must try that. Yeah, let's just say I am glad this worked for him, but it was NOT at all a good idea for me!) Did I mention it was beyond freezing and we were cooped up ALL DAY?

So, obviously, almost all the activities we tried went wrong. I don't know if there is a word for the exact opposite of the Midas Touch, but I think that is what was going on. We couldn't find the bird identification book because I wanted to set up a bird-watching basket, so of course, that would be unavailable. (Although, Mia did make some nice drawings for the cover of our bird watching notebook, so even though we can't tell what we're looking at, at least we're on the right track to having our bird-watching basket...)

I have a brand new roll of finger paint paper somewhere in the house, but it was nowhere to be found. I realized this after I got all the powdered tempera paints mixed up. I had (or attempted to make) four new paint combs (inspired by this). When I got the kids set up to paint on some brown kraft paper, Mia was excited, "Mrs. M. (the art teacher) has some of these!" Almost immediately, though, she was disappointed because my homemade version -- made from two Cool Whip lids -- just wasn't the same. I guess it's one of those "good idea in theory" moments, not a total craft-astrophe, but still it was a let-down. They eventually got the combs to make some scratchy marks in the paint, but it was pretty anticlimactic at that point.

We waited all day -- 8 hours -- for some glue to dry. This was my BIG brilliant idea for the day, the one I was sure would work. I had wanted to do some Styrofoam art prints. Instead of carving out a design like we did before, I thought we could make a relief using glue. Actually, I still think this would have worked. If only the glue hadn't flaked off from the surface of the Styrofoam after it finally dried.

It's a travesty, really. Mia had a cool snowflake design and Logan had some interesting abstract art that would have looked cool with the white paint on blue paper that I had in mind. This is the only one that sort of kind of worked out, although it looks nothing like what we were hoping for. If you squint, you can probably make out the tree and the falling snow, although who can really tell with all that other "snow" all over the sad looking print? This one definitely counts as a craft-astrophe in my book.

{"Christmas Tree" by Mia}

I know what you're probably thinking. Why didn't she just take it easy instead of trying to direct all of the activities for the day? I should probably mention that Netflix was not wanting to stream anything. And, left to their own devices, the kids created a couch cushion/blanket fort, which ordinarily would not be a problem. But once this became a "bounce house" and they were "boinging" down the "slide" repeatedly, I had had enough of that activity. Couldn't I catch a break?!

It's days like this when a mama really appreciates bedtime. So, if you need me, I'll be soaking in a hot bath with some homemade orange bath salts. And, I may also treat myself to some of our Dragonberry Bacardi. I think I've earned it.

Homemade Window Paint Recipe #1

Well, we're gearing up for another birthday party, and this time my little man has requested a shark theme. (It made no sense to me, but he has stuck with the idea for a few months now, so I'm going with it.) One idea I had for decorating was the paint the windows so it would look like we were under water. On a recent rainy day, I tried out this recipe for homemade window paint, or "Goofy Glass Paint," which I found on this website. (In looking at this again, I see that in the directions it says to apply it to a glass surface, not a window per se, although this did work for us. That said, it is somewhat labor-intensive to clean up, so you may want to try the next window paint recipe that I will be posting soon.) Since it was the first time I made this paint, I reduced the quantities from 1/4 cup to 1/2 tablespoon, after noting that it essentially just called for equal amounts of white glue and liquid tempera paint. Mia enjoyed painting an under-the-sea theme on our sliding door. Good thing it fits in with the upcoming party theme, because this is not coming down any time soon!

Materials:

• white school glue
• liquid tempera paint/s
• bowl/s (1 per color)
• spoon/s (optional, for mixing)
• paint brushes
• glass item to be painted (jar, window, etc.)
• old clothes/smocks (optional)
• something to protect work area (cereal box liners worked for us)

Directions:

1. Protect work area using cereal box liners, newspaper, a vinyl table cloth, or even a drop cloth, whatever you have that is handy. Old cloths or paint shirts are also recommended.
2. Using one bowl per paint color, mix equal parts white school glue and liquid tempera paint. (Tip: I used spoons for this, but you could also use your paint brushes.)
3. Let kids paint on glass objects (or windows, like we did). Paint may dribble a bit, so having a damp cloth on hand is helpful. (Tip: It wipes up easily while it is still wet, so take care of any messes as soon as you notice them.)
4. Allow paint to dry. The directions I read said to let it set over night, but we found that it dried much quicker than this.
5. HOW TO REMOVE PAINT FROM WINDOWS? I have found two ways to do this, but neither one is ideal. The first is with a damp cloth and plenty of elbow grease. This takes some effort, but it is doable. The second method takes less effort, but it is much messier. Simply take a straight razor blade/utility knife and scrape away the dry paint. You will want to first lay down some newspaper or something to catch all the scrapings, however. NOTE: I honestly don't recommend using this paint recipe on windows. Next time around, we will paint some other glass objects!

{Fun on a rainy day...}

Homemade (Tinted) Lip Balm Experiments #1 and #1 1/2 (FAIL)

I recently tried a couple of different ways to make a tinted lip balm using the same two ingredients: my homemade non-petroleum jelly and a packet of Kroger unsweetened strawberry drink mix. Now, before you read any further, let me just call this what it is: my latest craft-astrophe. I can't imagine too many people were considering making their own tinted lip balm, but just in case you were, here is how not to do it.

I first saw the idea to use a drink mix to make a lip stain here, but the blogger used a Crystal Light packet instead of the store-brand Kool-Aid. I didn't want to use Crystal Light for two reasons: 1) I didn't have any on hand. I had the Kroger drink mix because it makes fun play dough. 2) It contains artificial sweeteners, which I would prefer not to mess around with. (For the record, I wasn't too sure about the safety of using the Kroger drink mix considering the artificial food dye, but I wanted to at least test it out. I felt that this might produce a gritty mess that wasn't ideal for a lip balm, anyway, and it cost very little, so I decided it was worth a try.)

Trial #1:
To make my first trial batch, I combined a small amount of my homemade non-petroleum jelly (made on a previous day and completely cooled) with about 1/3 of the strawberry drink mix packet. I used a small round plastic travel toiletry container that has a screw-top lid and resembles the pots that some commercial lip balms come in. This didn't appear to have much color, and it seems to be gritty, not combined well despite mixing as well as I could with a spoon and letting it set for an hour. The texture, once applied with a lipstick brush, was about what I expected: somewhat gritty. The color went on fairly sheer and then the drink mix granules sort of "burst" open on my lips, spreading a bright red just on the inside portions so that it looked like I had been sucking on a cherry Popsicle.

Trial #1 1/2:
After trying the first version of the tinted lip balm for a while and not getting the desired results, I figured that there must be a better way to get the flavor crystals to mix in with the non-petroleum jelly. So, I decided to melt the non-petroleum jelly and then add the drink mix while it was still in the liquid state, as was suggested by this blog. (My ingredients were not all the same, but I pulled from the idea of combining it all while it was liquified.) I took about a tablespoon of my homemade non-petroleum jelly, put it in a microwave safe bowl and heated it for 15 seconds. Then, I stirred in about 1/3 of the strawberry drink mix packet. On first appearance, I thought that this was going to be more successful. It was a beautiful plum color, much richer than my first attempt, and the color looked to be much more evenly dispersed throughout. I let it set for 2 hours and then tried applying it with my lipstick brush. There was more intense color, but it was still only staining the inside "o" shape of my lips, not the entire lips. And it was still cherry Popsicle red, not a particularly grown-up shade of lip color.

{Non-Petroleum Jelly, Trial #1, Trial #1 1/2}

The Results:
While combining the drink mix has apparently worked for some other bloggers, it was not particularly successful for me. The biggest issue is that the color doesn't go on evenly and once it does start to spread, the intense red color is centered on the inside portions of my lips, not spread over the entire surface. The rest of the lips have barely any color and there is still some gritty texture from using the drink mix packet. It would be simpler just to spread red dye #40 on my lips, and it might even color the whole lips instead of just the centers. (I am not suggesting that anyone try this, though!)

The other issue I had is that the unsweetened drink mix is T-A-R-T! Once those granules burst, I really start to pucker up! (I realize that using a drink mix with artificial sweetener like the Crystal Light would address this issue, but again, that adds more unnatural stuff to it, which is what I am trying to minimize in the first place.) Although some people might like the pouty look, I have tried repeatedly for two weeks, and I just cannot tolerate the tartness.

While the tartness makes it unpleasant to apply this, in the end, it's the uneven, cherry Popsicle red lip staining that makes this unsuccessful in my eyes. I am officially washing my hands of trials #1 and # 1 1/2 for homemade tinted lip balm! (And I mean that figuratively as well as literally, given this lip balm's tendency to stain my hands despite my applying it with a lipstick brush to avoid this very thing.)

The good news in all of this? My non-petroleum jelly does, in fact, provide moisture and shine, two important things that I want from a lip balm/gloss. Now, if I can just find a more natural and effective way to add color, I will be all set!

My Most Recent Craft FAIL

Remember when I said we took a trip to Dollar Tree, and I picked up all sorts of odds and ends for crafts and activities, most of them things that might not typically be thought of as craft materials? Well, one of the items I got at that time was a two-pack of plastic star-shaped ice cube trays. My original plan was to make some star-shaped sidewalk chalk using this recipe. Then, after having such a great success with my bunny-shaped scribble cookies, I was excited and wanted to try making some star-shaped scribble cookies. This was not exactly my best plan ever. I did end up with some usable scribble cookies, but the way I went about it should be classified under "DON'T try this at home!" In retrospect, it would have made much, much more sense to make the chalk first.

A couple of years ago, when we first started making scribble cookies, I tried the microwave method. I wasn't really a fan of this method at that time, and now, I am convinced that this is the entirely wrong way to make scribble cookies. I just needed to confirm this once and for all. Melting crayons in the microwave just plain stinks, literally and figuratively! It doesn't save you much time, and the temperature of the melted wax gets painfully hot if you happen to spill it on yourself or try to remove the container without a hot pad.

Since it is so hard to pour the molten wax into shaped containers like the palm tree-shaped ice cube trays from a couple of years ago without getting hurt, I decided it was worth a try to make the scribble cookies in the star-shaped ice cube trays this time. Obviously, they are not meant to go in the microwave. I knew this, but I still felt I had to try. After 10 minutes of microwaving, initially 4 minutes, and then checking again at 2 minute increments, I finally had most of the crayons melted enough to make scribble cookies. Unfortunately, I also melted 2 of the star compartments! There were at least 2 more that also got small holes in them, and although they did not melt all the way through, they definitely started leaking melted wax. (Why only 4 out of 20? Rightfully, this was such a disastrous plan, I should have ended up with more carnage.) Thus, I had melted wax on the microwave's revolving glass tray. (This cleaned up easily with a utility knife once it hardened, so at least that wasn't a huge deal.) But that's not all that went wrong with my plan. I then cracked one of the trays while trying to remove the scribble cookies, after letting them cool for an hour, and I had to use a butter knife to chisel them out, resulting in more damaged scribble cookies.

In the end, I had 7 star-shaped scribble cookies, which looked very nice, but I lost 11 others in the process of making them. That's hardly worth it to me. The good news is that I salvaged all of the broken bits for more scribble cookies which I will, from now on, be making in the oven! So, if I decide that I want to make more star-shaped scribble cookies in the future, (Fourth of July maybe?) I will need to buy a silicone mold. And I probably will because my brain doesn't seem to accept failure as absolute, just a piece of the puzzle that needs to be tweaked, and twisted, and turned until it finally fits into place. I wonder sometimes if this is how people like Thomas Edison ever felt, that if he just keep trying, eventually it will actually work out the way they envision it in their minds?

{Melted Tray = Craft FAIL!}

Homemade Sidewalk Chalk Experiment #2 (FAIL)

Update: I see that this post is getting a lot of traffic, so I want everyone to know that this recipe does NOT work for making sidewalk chalk. It will produce sidewalk paint. If you are looking for a sidewalk chalk recipe that does work, I have found two: this one and this one. Thanks for visiting! I hope you find what you are looking for.

A few days ago, my sister-in-law, Kristin asked me if I had ever made homemade sidewalk chalk. Ironically, I was in the midst of waiting for my first batch to harden up, when she gave me a new recipe to try out. It sounded a lot like the sidewalk paint that we had made last spring so I was a bit skeptical that it would harden up and produce actual, usable chalk. Regardless, I figured it was worth a try. If it was successful, it would be a bit cheaper than my first recipe for sidewalk chalk, and it would be simpler to get more variety of colors with food coloring instead of powdered tempera paint. Plus, if it didn't work out, I would only be out a few cents and some time, so it wasn't a big deal.

When I tried it out, I first lined the tins with circles of wax paper that I had cut with scissors because I was afraid the chalk would stick. This turned out to be unnecessary I think. I had to wait a total of 5 days for it to dry out. On the second day, there was about 1/4" colored liquid on top of an "oobleck" type pseudo-solid. My skepticism continued. The day after that, there was less liquid, and it the stuff beneath it seemed firmer to the touch. So, my hopes were raised that this experiment would work. Then, the day after that, some of the "chalks" looked almost dry. After two more days, they all appeared to be dry, and they were starting to separate from the sides of the tins. The weird thing that my husband pointed out is that they appeared to be growing patches of green mold on top. Gross, right? However, I was cautiously optimistic that if I could just get them out unscathed, this could actually work. That was the dilemma. I decided to put an inch or so of hot water in my sink and then let the pan soak in it for 1 minute. Then, I used a butter knife to gently remove the chalks from the muffin tin. All but two made it through this process without disintegrating. However, the "chalk" felt very, very soft, so I doubted it would be usable.

{Homemade Sidewalk Paint -- BEFORE it dried into useless dust!}

I tentatively tried one or two "chalks" on a piece of paper and it immediately crumbled to bits. Figuring this for a lost cause, and a messy one at that, I gave Mia a cookie sheet and a piece of paper, so she could give the "chalk" a go. She ended up with a pile of pink "chalk" dust, which she enjoyed playing with, piling up, and smooshing back down, dragging it around the cookie sheet with her fingers until I decided enough was enough. She had pink "chalk" dust on her face and in her hair. I say "chalk" because it had turned out to be essentially colored corn starch after the water evaporated, not at all what I was hoping for, but truthfully, not an unexpected result. In the end, I don't feel that this is a failure because it didn't produce the desired effect. Really, I know that this will make perfectly good sidewalk paints, plus now I have the idea to do them in muffin tins instead of the glass jars we previously used, and this is definitely safer to do with kids.

{AFTER: Nothing more than colored cornstarch -- utterly useless as"sidewalk chalk!"}

The Bottom Line: If you decide to do this, choose a nice sunny day, and please know that you will be making sidewalk paints that need to be used immediately, NOT some sidewalk chalks. You will likely want to mix up your paints while you are outside, to keep spillage to a minimum. You will also need paintbrushes or sponging for painting the sidewalk.

{Here is my craft FAIL -- just in case you thought it never happens.}

Materials Needed to Make Sidewalk Paint (not chalk):

• 12 cup muffin tin
• 1 1/2 cups cornstarch
• 1 1/2 cups water
• container for mixing
• spoon/s for mixing
• food coloring
• paint brushes or sponges
• funnel (optional)

Directions:

1. In a container, mix equal parts cornstarch and water. I used 1 1/2 cups of each, which will fill 12 muffin cups approximately half full. Divide into the muffin cups. Tip: A funnel is helpful for pouring.
2. Add a few drops of food coloring to each muffin cup to get desired colors. I used no more than 3 drops per muffin cup. Tip: Food coloring may stain skin and clothing, so be mindful of this when using it.
3. Mix up each color, and have kids paint on the sidewalk or driveway using paintbrushes or sponges. Tip: When we did this last year, we kept the paints in jars with lids, shook them up as needed, and re-used the paints.
4. That's it. Enjoy your sidewalk paint. Don't bother waiting around for this recipe to harden up and produce "sidewalk chalk." You will just be disappointed.

Christmas Craft FAIL

At some point in the fall, I saw leaves in Mia's classroom that had colored paint streaks on them, which I assumed were made with marbles. When I asked about the process, she confirmed that they had done some marble painting, and I decided that we were going to try it for a Christmas craft. This was not my greatest plan.

I am not sure if the biggest mistake was using acrylic paint (knowing full well that the marbles would go flying at some point and almost certainly land on our carpeted dining room, which I HATE, but that's another story... or perhaps, it's why I wasn't too concerned about the issue of using paint that stains in the first place.) The other problem I had was not being sure of what kind of container to use to hold the paper and marbles. I decided on some clear storage bins that we have because they were large enough to hold the paper, but small enough to fit on the dining room table.

So, here is how we did this, and I am warning you up front that this is obviously not the best way to go about things. I can share this now because it's been long enough that I am no longer annoyed with myself, and I am not in the stress of the immediate situation of flying paint covered marbles. There's an image for you, right? Anyway, I figure it's good to be able to laugh at myself, plus it helps clear up any misunderstanding that you may have that I am Super Mom. Nope, just a regular mom who has some kooky ideas, some of them more successful than others.

{Christmas Tree by Logan, Age 3}

Materials:

• clear plastic container/s
• green construction paper
• pencil
• scissors
• plastic cups
• spoons
• red, green, and yellow acrylic paint
• marbles
• newspaper (optional)

Directions:

1. Fold your green construction paper in half like a hot dog. Draw 1/2 of a tree shape on one side, (Start at the top center and make increasingly larger triangular branches. When you have about an inch left at the bottom, draw the last line back toward the center crease and then down to the bottom of the paper to make half of the tree trunk.) and keeping the paper folded, cut it out. You now have a symmetrical tree. If you don't like how it looks, you can always re-fold it and trim some more as desired. Tip: If you are making more than one tree, use the first one as a template to save some time. Lay your tree shape into a container.
2. Pour a small amount of paint into cups. We used red, green, and yellow acrylic paint and added just enough to each cup to cover a marble completely. Tip: You may want to do this with a washable paint such as tempera paint. Tip: Gold would look nice in place of yellow, but we didn't have any gold paint. Tip: If using acrylic paints, have kids wear old clothes or a paint smock. Each of my kids has an old t-shirt of mine that we use for painting projects.
3. Use a spoon the scoop the marble out of the paint and gently set it on top of the paper inside of the plastic container. Let your child roll it around to make designs on the paper. Tip: The marbles don't always stay put, so if you are concerned about paint getting spilled, you may want to protect work surfaces with newspaper first. Repeat as desired with other colors of paint. Allow paint to dry before displaying your Christmas tree, which should now look like it is adorned with colorful garland. Tip: You can lay it on newspaper for this.

Additional Notes and Words to the Wise:
You can make other shapes besides trees. We did bells on the same day. It's not my favorite, but I think that is because I wasn't thrilled with my bell shape that I came up with. You can find templates for these types of thing online, if you prefer, but I usually save time by making my own, and in this case I wasn't too excited by the results.

{Bell by Mia, Age 5}

Since this interesting craft catastrophe took place, I learned a helpful tip. Logan made a marble painted paper ornament at Story Time last week. I am sure it was no coincidence that the ornament was a circle, the same size and shape of the container being used for the marble painting (round cake pans). This is sheer genius, people. And now, you know how I will be doing this in the future, if I am ever again feeling brave (or crazy, you pick) enough to attempt marble painting with kids.

{Logan's ornament has a folded paper topper -- glued on either side of the paper -- and yarn for hanging.}

The nice thing about this project (see how I can find good in even my goofiest flub-ups?) is that you can do it with almost any age child. The marble painting itself is very simple and toddlers can manage it just fine. There is some prep work that an adult will need to do, but overall, it is easy.It is the stress caused by flying marbles that is the parental concern here. Don't attempt this at home if you know it will put you over the edge.

When DIY May Not be a Good Idea: Homemade Cloud Dough

I am sharing this because I want everyone to know that contrary to what people may believe, I am not some kind of Super Mom. Although I often try to come up with fun things to do with my kids, they don't always go well as I hope. I love homemade craft materials, so today we today we made Cloud Dough. (Mia informed me that they made this at preschool and called it "Moon Sand.") This turned out to be a perfect example of something that should be filed under "What Was I Thinking?!"

To be clear, Mia and Logan had a blast with this stuff, so that wasn't the problem. It is neat to play with since it is soft and flows through your fingers, but it can also be molded. Both kids enjoyed making "sand castles" on the dining room table. It was just insanely messy, and caused me more stress than I would have liked. I don't know if I didn't mix it long enough or if I really just should have let them play with it in a larger container. My kids poured it out of the plastic container I used to mix up the Cloud Dough, and it was everywhere by the time they were done. (The good news is that this kept them entertained for at least half an hour, maybe more like an hour.)

Instead of using 8 cups of flour and 1 cup of baby oil, I used 4 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of baby oil to make our batch of Cloud Dough. (I only had so much baby oil. It was left over from when I used to make my own baby wipes solution. If you are interested in another craft you can make using baby oil, try this wave bottle.) Let's just say that I am glad I halved the recipe, and it was good that I needed to vacuum, anyway. If after reading this, you still want to make your own cloud dough, (I know it's making the rounds on Pinterest, which is where I first heard of it), consider having it be an outside activity, or at the very least, plan on doing some serious vacuuming and/or sweeping afterward.

{Before}

{After}

{You can use cookie cutters, rolling pins, or any other tools you would normally use with play dough.}

{Of course, you can just use your hands, too.}

{See, it can be molded, which is cool, right?}

{The end result, while less than ideal, does show how much fun these two had!}