Christmas in September - Corn starch and Baking Soda Ornaments

I have tried salt dough with my kids in the past and although they loved it, I never loved the end result. It seemed to take forever for the dough to dry in the oven, microwave and/or on the counter and I found the color was never really nice. 

I have longed for a pure white ornament that could be used as gift tags. So when I found this recipe online (I got the final version I used on cooks.com) I was really excited. 

I was excited that I had all the ingredients on hand (who doesn't have corn starch and baking soda in their pantry?) and I love that this recipe produced a beautiful pure white dough that seems to have a shimmer. I am not sure which ingredient does it, but when the uncooked dough is in the light it sparkles. I will try this recipe again and add some white glitter to see how it works..I will let you know how that goes.

I tested out two different ways of hardening this recipe, air dry overnight and baking. I have to say I far preferred the results of the air dry. I liked the the kids could have the ornaments within 30 minutes with the baking, but the final result was a a little yellow and the shimmer was lost. So I highly recommend being prepared for an overnight dry time if you want amazing results.

The candy cane was air dried and the bell was baked. It is hard to see, but the candy cane is much whiter.  A funny thing is, I didn't notice until now that we put the hole on the wrong side of the candy cane..so when I went to hang it on the tree to photograph it was a 'J'.

Full batch recipe:

• 2 cups baking soda
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/4 cups cool water

I only did 1/4 of this recipe as a test to see how it worked. I had intended to make another batch with fancy ornaments and gift tags to post it here on Full of Great Ideas, but I absolutely loved this craft and wanted to share it with you right away. You never know, some of you might be bored on a Sunday afternoon and wanted to do something with your kids.

Method:

Mix cornstarch and baking soda in a pot.

Add water to the powder mixture. It will seem like the water sits on top, but after a little stirring in mixes all together into a runny mix.

Place the pot on a stove over medium heat. 

Be sure to stir the mixture constantly.

Once it thickens (you will know when it is done..it becomes a ball), turn into a bowl.

Cover with a damp paper towel and let cool. 

This is an important step. Don't be impatient like me and try to kneed it with your hands when it is piping hot! I try to teach my children to wait and be patient, but I can't seem to follow my own advice. If you are like me and decide to burn your hands, add one extra step...run hands under cold water and try to refrain from cursing because your children are watching and waiting to the dough to be done. :)

Knead the cooled mixture until smooth. It is amazing at how nice and smooth the dough becomes. I have never used the Magic Dough from Crayola (too cheap) but this is what I envision it to be like.

Roll out the dough to approximately 1/4 inch thick on a flat surface. If you find the mixture to be a little sticky, add a little cornstarch either on the counter on kneed it into the mixture.

Cut out desired shape with cookie cutters.

I had a few cookie press from when I was younger that the kids wanted to try and to be honest with you they are my favorites!

We used a drinking straw to make the hole a the top of each of the ornaments.

My son decided he was going to decorate a snowman with a straw and a butter knife. It is cute and he is quite proud of his work.

When I left the ornaments out to air dry, they dried nicely overnight. I did flip them over before I went to bed to ensure both sides dried evenly. This produced the nicest ornaments! They remained pure white and still have the shimmer to them.

 

But if you want to bake them, be prepared, they will slightly brown a bit in the process (especially the back). If you plan to paint the ornament, this is a great option for you. I was hoping to make pure white ornaments, so the air dry method was my favorite.

To bake them, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place ornaments on parchment lined baking sheet and bake for approximately 30 minutes.  Be sure to watch closely for the last 10-15 minutes to prevent over browning. 

Here is the back of one of the ornaments I baked. See how the back of the ornament is a light brown?

You can seal any unused dough in plastic bag and keep it in the refrigerator until needed. I am not sure how long it will last, so I recommend only making enough for you to use within a few days.

The possibilities are endless for this craft! My kids have always loved making things out of dough, but we have never found a reasonably priced dough that air dries. You can add food coloring along with the water to color the dough and like I said, I think some glitter for Christmas ornaments would be amazing!

My kids have always made ornaments for family members but this year I think the ornaments will double as the labels. Have any of you ever make reusable Christmas gift labels? This will be my first year, but I am excited especially for family members who are just starting out and don't have many ornaments.

Have any of you used this recipe before? What have your results been? 

Anyone else getting ready for Christmas already? What are you working on?

Have a great Sunday!

Stephanie

Decorating for a Party on a Dime - Personalized Name Crosses -DIY

When I was planning our daughter's first communion party, I knew I wanted some photos and art on the table as decorations. So, I frames some of her baptism photos from when she was a baby and made this beautiful cross out of her name. I found the idea on Pinterest and knew it would take no time to make. If you are not interested in making it yourself, you can buy these from many different Etsy shops. But if you are like me and want to save the $15 plus shipping they are sold for, here is how I did it.

I started with a blank 8x10 Publisher file. Insert a text box and type the first name, middle name and phrase.  When I was making this I used 'In God We Trust' but changed it to 'God's Precious Gift' right before I printed it. So you will see both phrases alternating on this tutorial. 

Select the font and size you like.

 Then save the text box as an image. To do this select File, Save As

 Enter a file name and then change the "Save as Type" to JPEG File.

 Click on the 'Change' box and select 'High Quality Printing'

 Back to your Publisher file, delete the original text box and insert the picture of the text box. This way you can mirror, flip and manipulate the text without Publisher doing funny formatting things.

You will need to insert the image three times and then crop each of the three so that you have each row of text by itself.

 Once you have all three lines, you need to rotate the first name and the phrase. You can do this by clicking on the little green circle on the box surrounding the text and dragging it around.

 

 If you would like to have the middle name mirrored, select the middle name image and copy and paste it. Then select 'Rotate' and 'Flip Horizontally'. Line everything up.

Save the image again as a JPEG using the same method as earlier.

 Insert the new jpeg and Flip it vertically.

You will notice the new half is smaller than the original, so what I do to get them perfectly matched is insert the image twice and delete the original.

Save the image as a new JPEG and test print it. I printed mine on canvas paper I purchased at the Dollar Store so it had texture. I used a cheap frame also from the Dollar Store and I think it looked amazing. You could also print it on scrapbook paper for a patterned background. Really this could be made for almost any occasion, so the possibilities are really unlimited.

My daughter loved this and has requested we have hang it in her bedroom.

The total for this decoration, if I had to go out and buy the materials right now, would be $4. $2 for the frame and $2 for the canvas paper (really only $0.25 because there were 4 sheets in the package).
That fit into my very frugal budget for the First Communion.

What do you think? Can you use this idea for gifts or for decoration in your own home?

Stephanie

DIY Daytime Constellations

Last week I recreated this Cloud identification tool that I saw on Pinterest and my son has loved it! Almost every day he has been outside trying to identify what clouds are in the sky. I am not sure if he is correct every time, but it has really entertained him and sparked an interest I never expected him to have.

So I thought I would recreate another Pinterest inspired educational tool that you can do with your kids, the daytime constellation activity.

I created the following 5 common constellations in a Publisher file using little circles and lines:

• Canis Major (the Dog)
• Ursa Major (The Big Dipper)
• Leo (The Lion)
• Hercules
• Orion (The Hunter)

I found the constellations online on various sites to create each of the constellations. I found it odd that there were different designs for the same one..so I think some sites include surrounding stars. I saved the file as an image and printed it on card stock paper.

 I carefully cut around the outer line to create 5 circle constellations.

Using a 1/8 inch circle hole punch with a 2 inch reach (this is important) I punched out each of the dots where a star appears in the sky.

The reason you need a 2 inch reach punch is so you can punch the holes in the middle of the circles.  I bought this 2 inch reach punch at Micheal's a while ago for around $5. If you find a coupon you might be able to get it for less. See how it is able to reach the middle of the large circle?

This is a regular hole punch; it doesn't reach the middle spots.

I punched each of the small dots on the 5 constellations.

Next is the fun part; head to a dark room or outside in the sun with your constellation cards and shine a light through them. You get to see what the constellations will look like up in the sky but during the day. I apologize this image is so bad, I was hiding out in my walk-in closet trying to take this photo. You get the idea though.

I created a few different versions of this file. The first was the one you see in the pictures above, all names, dots and lines are printed. The second, only has the names and dot, so you can have your child connect the dots to draw his/her own constellations. And the last one only has the dots.

UPDATE: I have saved the three images for you to download. Here are the links

• Constellations with no name and lines

• Constellations with no lines

• Constellations

Please leave me a comment with and let me know whether or not you were able to get this to work. Again, please keep this for personal or classroom use only. 

If you find any major errors, please email me and I can correct it for future emails. I am by no means an expert in this so any help is appreciated.

Happy star gazing!
Stephanie

To the Cloud! DIY Cloud Identification Tool

I am sorry for being away from here for a few weeks. I truly appreciate all the emails I received from readers asking where I have been and if I was returning. Don't worry, I have no plan on stopping Full of Great Ideas.  No one has been sick and unfortunately, we have not been away, I just can't seem to find time to post anything. My projects have continued as normal, but finding the time to sit down and share them with you has been difficult.

So I am starting with a small post that I did with my kids this past week while they were on March break.

I pinned this Cloud Identification Tool kit idea a really long time ago and had always intended to make it. You can buy a kit online for a pretty reasonable price; however, they are intended for a classroom use so you have to buy at least 25 of them for $35. I have no need for 25, so I made my own.

I started by going online and found free images of the different types of clouds. Using Publisher (you can do this in any format), I arranged the clouds by the way they appear in the sky. The lower ones, are low clouds, the upper clouds are high in the sky...well you get the idea. I added the name of the cloud type below the image.

I printed the design out on photo paper with my color printer as a 5x7 and carefully cut out the middle rectangle. (I don't love the quality of my printer, so I think I might send it to Costco for a nice, professional print.)

 I then cut a piece of white card stock to the exact size.

I glued the two pieces together with a wooden stick secured in the middle to be used for a handle. To be honest with you, I have no idea why I have tongue depressors in my house, but I had a few of them. I was expecting to have to eat a Popsicle just so I could get a stick..but nope. I still ate a Popsicle though :)

 We are having the best March break weather ever, so we went outside to test it out. Unfortunately, we only had a few clouds in the sky.

 Here is the only cloud, but you get the idea though how it works.

 My son loved it...my daughter wasn't as interested. It always amazes me how different two kids from the same parents can be.

If you would like this, leave me a comment with your email address and I can email you the 5x7 high resolution jpeg. 
Here is the full size image. To download it:

• Right click on the image and select open in a new window or tab
• On the full size image, right click again and select 'save as'
• Save it to a place on your computer where you can easily find it
• Send it to your favorite photo developer
• Please only use these for personal use!
• Enjoy!!

As usual, I just ask that you use it for personal use..or classroom use :)
What do you think?

I hope everyone has/is having a great March break.

Stephanie at Full of Great Ideas