12 Days of Christmas Ideas 2014 – Day 2
I love homemade gifts. To me they say “I thought of you and I took the time to make something that you would like”. I recently planned a party that had play-dough as one of the activities. I was reminded how novel it can be and how people of all ages will always take the opportunity to mould and shape all kinds of creations. The other thing I was reminded of was how as parents we will often shy away from letting our little children play with it for fear that they will eat it and that the ingredients may not be safe for them to consume.
This is why I thought these homemade play-dough gifts are ideal. The children can have all the joy of playing with the play-dough, and the parents can have piece of mind that the ingredients are safe should it end up in their children’s mouths.
Homemade play-dough is very easy to make, and so you can create your own play-dough gifts, I thought I would share with you my favourite play-dough recipe. All the ingredients are available from your local supermarket, and are commonly used in baking, which is how we know it’s safe to eat. However, because of the high salt content I would still discourage it.
Play-dough Recipe
- 1 cup Salt
- 2 cups Flour
- 4 tsp. Cream of Tartar
- 2 Tbsp cooking Oil
- 2 cups of water
- Food colouring
Place all of the ingredients into a large saucepan. When it comes to adding the food colouring the more you add the more intense the colour will be. I quite like the strong colours, so I usually add up to 2 teaspoons. Just bear in mind that as you cook the dough the colour will deepen. Mix all the ingredients together until it becomes a smooth paste and then place over a medium heat to cook it. It is important to stir the mixture constantly – this helps to distribute the heat throughout the mixture and will also stop the dough from burning (Note: it is normal for some to stick to the bottom of the saucepan). As it cooks the mixture will start to stiffen and the colour will deepen. You will know it’s is ready when it clumps into one big ball, and doesn’t stick to you when you touch it – this usually takes 3-5 minutes. I then turn the play-dough out onto a hard surface and knead it for a bit to insure an even consistency. It will be quite warm but it is not likely to burn you. This play-dough will last for months & months, as long as you keep it in an air-tight container.
To make the gifts I chose to make 3 batches of play-dough in primary colours. I figured the play-dough could then be mixed together to make other colours. I then cut a piece from each colour, wrapped it in plastic-wrap (to keep it air-tight) and layered them into a 8cm x8cm clear cupcake box. I then finished it off by tying it with a white organza ribbon and adding a rainbow coloured gift card that I designed. This amount of dough easily makes 6 gifts of this size. And if you decide to make your own and would like to use our gift cards you can download them here for free.
Playdough Gift Card Download Here
I hope you enjoy making your own play-dough, whether its for Christmas gifts, party favours or even just as a holiday activity. If you have any questions or comments we’d love to hear from you. You can either leave a message in the comments box below, email us or join us on our Facebook page.