whileshenaps.com

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handmade gifts

Gift crafting is in full force here now.  First, for my nearly two-year-old niece, Emerson, a package of homemade playdough.

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This will be accompanied by lots of cookie cutters and a rolling pin and hair maker.  Here is the playdough recipe, in case you'd like to make some.  It lasts for a long long time and is really fun to play with and totally non-toxic.

Playdough

Ingredients:

3 cups flour, sifted
1 1/2 cup salt
6 teaspoons cream of tartar
3 1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons oil
food coloring (I use the gel kind)

Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a large pot until no lumps remain.  Whisk in the wet ingredients (except for the food coloring) and stir until no lumps remain.  Cook on high for 3-4 minutes until a dough forms. Separate into several portions and add food coloring, kneading until uniform in color.  Store in airtight containers. 

For my sister-in-law Jen, a sewing kit.  She mentioned to me recently that she has no sewing materials except for a tiny hotel sewing kit.  This cannot be allowed!  I made her a custard cup pincushion and a set of shrinky dink pins

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I also made her a wool felt needle book. I am putting in a few other goodies – some vintage buttons and fabric scraps and trims.  I hope this will inspire some creative projects for her.

And finally for today, two princess crowns for my three-year-old twin nieces, Jordan and Ellis.  These are made of wool felt and plastic gems.  They fasten with Velcro.  I made little name tags from white shrinky dinks that I affixed to each one. 

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Lots more to come.  Happy crafting!

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Comments

  5. Carrie says

    Great projects. I am going to have to make that play dough for my daughter. What did you use for the filling in the pincushion?
    Thanks!

  6. rachel says

    Those crowns are so great! i saw princess crowns at a nearby store the other day, and they were the totally mass produced kind and $20 each! Its like, this is definitely something to make homemade, and yours are so much cooler. And I can also affirm that that playdo is really cool to play with, it has a consistency that surpasses normal playdo.

  7. hannah says

    I love your handmade gifts so far! I have been longing to make crowns for so long, I just need to find a good supplier of wool felt, its all so synthetic and thin round here

  11. Abby says

    ohhhh I luv these crowns…. they are perfect for the boys to wear to carols this weekend…. thanx for the inspiration
    luv Abby

  13. lisa says

    I just had an awful experience making this play dough! I feel like the instructions are a bit vague when it comes to the cooking portion… it burnt to the bottom of my pot after a minute!

  14. caro says

    I’m late to this post, but I thought the play dough directions were fine, and mine cooked up nicely. Remember to keep whisking while it’s cooking.

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