Friday, June 29, 2012

Playdough: Toilet Paper Art Alternative?

Oh, geez... another pile of toilet paper.


I've been thinking these words quite often lately.

Why, you ask?  Because my daughter has gotten into the habit of taking toilet paper from the roll, wetting that paper, then using it to sculpt various masterpieces.  Strawberries, chairs, houses... the list goes on.

It's been driving me nuts.  Not only does it mean that I have toilet paper hanging out in places that nobody wants to find it, but it's a huge waste of resources, both trees and water.

Fortunately, This was an easy one to fix... after I got over my initial freak-out, that is.

Make playdough, of course!


My mom used to make playdough for me when I was a little girl, and I had written the recipe down a few years ago.  I went hunting for it.

And hunting.

And hunting.

After making a thorough mess of the kitchen, piling up recipe cards and papers in interesting new locations, I finally gave up.  The recipe was nowhere to be found.  I hung my head in grief, and went to the computer to do yet another recipe search.

Finally, I found one that looked like my mom's recipe on Moms Who Think.  I used the no-cook recipe, because running the stove adds to my ecological footprint (electricity use), but they have many to choose from.

I gathered my supplies.




You'll notice everything is non-toxic.  One cup of salt, 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of water,  2 tablespoons of oil, and food coloring until everything is colored exactly as you want it.  That's it!  Safe and cheap.  Bonus!


Now, I actually used a bit more oil and water than was listed on their basic recipe, so there's elbow room in this.  Use your judgement.  


Basically, just stick your hands in and mix everything together.  This will take a while, so make sure you have the patience.  It'll start looking like it's ready relatively quickly, but it'll feel grainy.  Maybe you're ok with that, but I'm not.  Don't stop until it feels smooth and firm.  This is where I added a tiny bit of extra oil and water.  I knew what I wanted my playdough to feel like, and I wasn't stopping until it got there, darn it!


The result?






Homemade happiness.  


Of course, I wasn't truly finished yet.  I mean, I had to test it, right?  Really... not because I wanted to play with it, or anything... really.  The playdough was for my daughter.  Not me.


Really.




So I made a chair for her lalaloopsy doll.  And a book.  My daughter created the hat.  Later, she molded a comfy playdough mattress pad for another doll.

Much better than her original toilet paper sculpting, I do believe!

2 comments:

  1. Ooh, that sounds like a lot of fun!! I may have to try that, you know, for science purposes...

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    Replies
    1. Of course! Purely for scientific purposes. Really.

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