Make Your Own

Although Fairy's problems with gluten are not as sever as others, it has made me more sensitive to the plight of those around us that have serious allergic reactions to gluten. Because of that, I dusted off my old 3" x 5" cards to see if I had a recipe for a gluten free playdough, and sure enough, I did! In all my years of teaching preschool I never had a child with a gluten allergy. It really makes me wonder whether it is more prevalent today or if we have just gotten better at diagnosing the problem. Whichever the case, I did want to include a gluten free playdough recipe on the site.

I played with 3 different flour substitutes, and I was happiest with the rice and almond flour playdoughs. Of course, if your child has tree nut allergies you will not want to use the almond flour. My final appraisal of the playdough... it makes up nice and feels wonderful working with it. I do believe it dries out a little faster than the wheat flour doughs, so make sure you cover them well when storing. Since I don't know what the shelf life of them are, I plan to store mine in the fridge. FYI... the dough in the photos is made with almond floor.

Gluten Free Playdough

Makes 1 1/2 cups of playdough

Ingredients:
1/2 cup rice or almond flour
1/2 cup corn starch
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon cooking oil
food coloring (I used the neon food coloring)

Directions:
Put all ingredients in a sauce pan EXCEPT for the food coloring and mix well. (You can add the food coloring now if you plan to make the whole batch the same color.)

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture pulls away from the sides and looks like moist mashed potatoes. Do not over cook or the playdough will be crumbly.

Divide into 3 parts. (1/2 cup each)

Make a well in the center of each and add 12 drops of food coloring.

Mix in well.

When cooled, store in air tight containers. 

There are many different variations for beeswax crayons, but most use equal weight amounts of beeswax and white bar soap. This is the recipe I've used with great success over the years. How do these compare to the Soy Crayons we made several months ago? I find the beeswax crayons to be harder than the soy, giving the ability to add more details to pictures. Both are wonderful and VERY child friendly. BTW... I found out that little puppies LOVE to chew on these. Shocker, right?

BEESWAX CRAYONS

(Use equal weights of soap and beeswax.)
1 part soap, grated (inexpensive bar white bar soap)
1 part beeswax, chopped into pieces
Paste or liquid food coloring or a veggie based colorant. Note: You can use tempera paints or fresco pigments instead of food coloring for deeper colors, but they should not be ingested so they are not safe for small children.
2 cup Pyrex measuring cup or other microwave safe container
Molds – see note in directions
Veggie spray or shortening

Chop up beeswax into pieces and grate soap.

In your microwave melt soap and beeswax in Pyrex measuring cup. Caution: the liquid will be very hot! You can also melt the soap and beeswax in the top of a double boiler. Watch the mixture closely. You do not want it to boil or it will foam up putting air bubbles in your crayons. If this does happen, let it set for a couple of minutes, gently stirring to remove air bubbles. 

When the soap and beeswax have melted, carefully mix in color. I used paste food coloring. Obviously, the more you add, the more vibrant the color. I also wanted to make 4 colors so I divided the hot liquid before adding colors. Note: If using a veggie based colorant, you may have to return it to the microwave to completely melt the tart.

Lightly grease the mold you will be using to pour the liquid into. Possible molds are ice cube trays, mini muffin pans, depressions in artist clay, disposable mini paper cups, or make your own mold using foil paper.

Pour the melted mixture into your mold and allow to dry completely. Note: If the crayons have become "gloppy" and you are using an oven safe mold, pop them in a 350 oven for a few minutes to melt a bit. Be careful not to let them go too long or they will begin to foam!

Remove from mold and use!

BTW… I have had parents tell me that if you use glycerin soap the crayons will be harder. I have not tried it yet, but you may wish the experiment.

Imagine the delight on your children's faces when they open this carton of eggs...

and find these lovely gems inside!

No, it is not a dozen hard boiled eggs, but rather a dozen Soy Crayons! It is easy to sing the praises of soy crayons; brilliant colors, smooth drawing without flaking, biodegradable, renewable resource and non toxic. You can buy ready made soy crayons (Bella Luna carries Soy Rocks) or you can make them yourself. Understand, soy crayons aren't for every project. The wax is soft and begins melting at a low temp. As a matter of fact, even holding a soy crayon for too long will start the surface to become "slimy" (but in a good way :) You can't use them for detailed work BUT for projects begging for large sweeps of a crayon, this is the perfect choice. They are always a wonderful choice for your youngest budding artists; easy to hold and you don't need to press down hard to get results. 

Directions:
To make soy crayons simply melt soy wax flakes,

add coloring agent,

pour into desired mold,

allow to cool completely, and there you have it... a soy crayon.

Wax can be melted on the stove top set at medium to medium low, or it melts wonderfully, in a microwave safe container, in just minutes. Hint: To easily remove crayons from mold, I submerged the mold in very hot tap water for a few seconds, thus melting the surface a bit, and they popped right out! Note: as the wax cools, it will contract. When filling my eggs, I needed to reheat some of the left over wax and pour into the mold to "top it off".

Resources I used:
I purchased my soy wax flakes from www.zionsvillecandleco.com and my veggie based colorant from www.fireandicecandles.com. I used egg molds that I had gotten years ago from Jello. Unfortunately, Jello no longer sells the molds, but I did check out EBay and there were quite a few Sellers with them for sale or try your local thrift store. To melt the wax I used some plastic cups left over from days gone by... not a good idea. As the wax began to melt... so did the cups. I am going to keep my eyes open at the thrift store and garage sales for 1 cup Pyrex measuring cups.

Because the quantity of soy wax flakes you will need varies with the molds you use it is hard to estimate how "much" you will need for a project. In general, I found 1 cup of flakes yields 1/2 cup melted wax, so a 2:1 ration. To get vibrant colors I needed to add 4 colorant wax chips to 1 cup of the unmelted soy wax chips. And, in my case, it took about 1/2 cup of the melted wax to fill each egg.     

So, whether you want to make a dozen colored soy wax eggs for Easter or just a few to add to your child's crafting supplies, you are all set to go. Obviously, hot wax is... well... it's hot, so use caution especially if children are "helping". Also, because the wax melts at such a low temperature, I was able to wash all the spoons and containers in my dishwasher. Everything came out clean and there was no residual mess in the dishwasher, making clean up a breeze!

BTW... if you have a favorite suppliers of the soy wax flakes or the color agents, please share :)

After 30 years of parenthood, 6 years of gammyhood, and over 10 years of being a preschool teacher, I have collected over a hundred different "Make Your Own" recipes. From the mundane to the extraordinaire, I have tried and true recipes for just about EVERYTHING! Glues and pastes, playdoughs and chalks, paints, crayons and sculpting materials. The benefits of making your own crafting materials are reduced costs, immediate availability and control of ingredients.

Over the next few months we plan to share our recipes, hopefully building a useful resource that we can all refer to. If you have a suggestion, a recipe that you would like to share, or a questions, just email us at weefolkart@yahoo.com. If you share a recipe we don't already have, we'll be sure to give it a try and include it in our data base. So, put on an apron, gather the kiddos around, and start concocting with us! 

Our first recipe is for your basic Cooked Playdough. A mainstay in any situation. I prefer home made, because if not overcooked... very important... it crumbles far less that purchase playdoughs, and has a wonderful feel. Plus, added your own flavorings, my personal favorite is coconut extract, and it smells sooooo good. 

COOKED PLAYDOUGH
2 cups flour
2 cups water
1 cup salt
4 tablespoons cream of tartar
2 teaspoons vegetable oil, olive oil or baby oil
food coloring and/or flavorings

DIRECTIONS
Mix all ingredients in a saucepan. 

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat when dough forms a ball. (Important: Do not over cook. Take off heat as soon as it comes away from the sides. It will still appear a bit "wet") Dump on a clean surface. As soon as it is comfortable to work with, finish the mixing process by kneading the dough. 

This dough can keep in an airtight container for months, but with high usage, I replace it every few weeks.