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

Getting Organized - Plastic Bags

I am going through something right now; not anything bad, I am just tired of looking at stuff.  It is like I want to spring clean but multiply that by 100. Have you ever had that? I literally spent 6 hours in my children's rooms just tearing everything out and only putting back what we absolutely love. I have cleaned, purged and organized under every sink in the house. Closets are on my next to do list...I can't wait. I am not sure what it is about but it is making me happier and I feel lighter.

So, this is not going to be an earth shattering post, but it will be helpful for those of you, who like me, seem to amass piles of plastic grocery bags. I honestly use reusable bags as often as possible, but it seems that they end up neatly piled in our mudroom after I put my groceries away but they don't make it to the car by the time I need them. So over months I am left with a kitchen drawer full of plastic bags.

What do you do to keep them neat and tidy and convenient enough to use them again? Well, I tested out the three technique that I thought were the best options I could find:

1. Cleaning wipes container
2. Kleenex container
3. Folding into triangles

The first two I found as solutions on the internet and the third was taught to me by my mother-in-law.

In all three options I used 6 plastic bags just so I could easily compare how well they hold the same amount.

Cleaning Wipes Container
The first method I tried was to put plastic bags in the disposable cleaning cloths container. Someone on a blog did this and covered the outside of the bottle with pretty scrapbook paper. It really did look nice and I would have done this if I felt this was a viable option, but I really didn't. I have a hard enough time getting those cleaning cloths out without pinching a finger or scratching the back of my hand.

I literally stuffed 5 bags into the container and was quite surprised that it would only hold that many. I might have been able to cram another one in but it was tight.

There were two flaws with this technique. Firstly, I should have cut out the prongs that keep the wipes from coming out in clumps because it ripped the bags as they were pulled out. Secondly, the bags are next to impossible to get out from the bottom. The first 2 came out because I could easily reach them, the last few I have to get a chopstick out to bring them to the top.

 

I guess if you were really ambitious, you could lay the bags flat and then roll them up so they are similar to a roll of paper towels before putting them in. Honestly, this did not work for me. I have the scratches on the back of my hand to prove it too :)

Kleenex Box
The second method I tested was using a Kleenex box to house the bags.I didn't have any empty tissue boxes on hand, but I had purchased a Kleenex box cover for a future craft so I tried that.

I took my 6 bags and stuffed them into the opening. The container held them nicely and could have probably housed a few more. This isn't a bad option, but I don't think it saves that much space.

Triangle Folding Plastic Bags
My mother-in-law has always folded her plastic bags and I never realized how easy and space saving it was. You might think it is not worth the time (30 seconds per bag) to fold the bags but this is by far my favorite method to store/organize plastic bags.

You start by flattening the bag, tucking in the side folds.

 

 Fold the bag in half length wise so the handles line up. Some bags will have the handle in the middle, so you don't have to worry about lining them up.

 Fold it in half again.

 Make a triangle on the bottom by folding the one corner up.

 Flip the triangle up so the sides line up.

 Just keep folding and flipping that triangle....

 until you reach the top.

 Fold the handles over and tuck them into the opposite side.

 Easy Peasy..you are done. You now have a neat little triangle plastic bag.

 It is amazing size difference.

 Here are the 6 folder bags.

This is  my favorite solution! It only takes a few seconds to do each and it really does save a lot of space.

If I had to rank the methods, they would be in the following order:

1. Triangle Folding
2. Kleenex Box
3. Cleaning Wipe container

Look at the size difference between the three methods. All hold 6 but look how small the 6 folded bags are.

I have used a long tube of fabric with elastic on both ends before to hold the bags, but it also really doesn't save much space. 

What do you do with your plastic bags? Give it a try to fold them and let me know what you think!

I will be back on Christmas stuff very soon! I did a great ornament with the kids yesterday that I can't wait to share.

Have a great day,

Stephanie

Christmas in August - Permanent Marker Designs on Mug and Plate

If you have been on Pinterest lately or ever, I am sure you have seen the plate with the recipe written on it with Sharpie.  I pinned it a while ago and when starting my Christmas crafts last week I pulled it up only to find out the link was broken; I could not get to the original source from my pin. So after some searching, I found the site that posted it originally and it says NOTHING about a sharpie anywhere. The woman used ceramic markers to decorate the plate! I know... we all just let out a collective GASP. 

Don't worry though, I did not give up that easily. This is a great gift idea for grandparents and I had to find a way to make it work this year for Christmas!


When searching online I found a few different methods that claimed you can make Sharpie drawing on mugs and plates permanent. I tested out a few different methods and here is what I found to work the best.

Important Note: The sharpie drawing becomes permanent when hand washed only...it does not withstand the strength of my dishwasher. So if you take one precaution i.e. write 'Hand Wash Only' on the bottom, this will make a great gift idea!

Materials Needed:

• Solid color mug, plate, bowl etc. I bought a white plate and mug at the Dollar Store
• Permanent markers i.e. Sharpies in various colors (I also tested one Dollar Store permanent marker and it seemed to work just as well)
• Oven

 Method:
 It really is this simple:

1. Wash and dry the plate and mug
2. Draw on plate and mug with permanent markers
3. Write on bottom 'Hand Wash Only'
4. Place items in cold oven
5. Turn oven on to bake at 350 degrees
6. Bake for 30 minutes (after it reaches 350 degrees)
7. Turn oven off
8. Let items cool in oven!

Here are a few tips I learned while making ours.
The light yellow Sharpie changed colors when baked (see how the sun is brown in the picture below)  so be aware that items might not finish the same color they start as. This was the only color that changed and my son really didn't mind.

If you pull the item out of the oven while it is still hot, the drawing can and will smudge if you touch it. So resist the urge and leave it in the oven until cool.

 Remember to write 'Hand Wash Only' on the bottom. We drew cute picture on the bottom, which is great until these dishes end up in the dishwasher and the design comes off. Our next projects will have the hand wash message on the bottom along with the cute drawings from the kids.

Don't heat the oven to 350 degrees and then throw the items in. These are Dollar Store items and probably are not meant to be heated this high. So by heating them with the oven, it prevents the dramatic change in temperature and prevents cracking.
Note: I cannot guarantee this will not break your dishes. Mine worked great but every Dollar Store sells different items, so I recommending testing one item before doing a large batch...just in case.

I am very happy with how these turned out. I will be making a mug for every grandparent and then the kids have asked if they can make a plate and mug for their milk and cookies for Santa. I really can't wait to see what they do for Santa!

What do you think, do you think you will be able to use this?

Any one else working on their Christmas craft list yet? If yes, what have you been making?

Have a great weekend,
Stephanie