Waay back in March/April, I made some play dough for Little Monkey. It was cool. For a while. Then he got tired of it. I didn’t have any food coloring when we were moving into our apartment and so the play dough was a lame brown color, which I’m sure didn’t help matters.
Back at the beginning of November, I was trying to hurry and get gifts done so they could be delivered when we were around for Thanksgiving. We have a set of friends (we gave them THIS GIFT) who have a little boy a few months older than Little Monkey. So, of course, we gifted for him too. Little Monkey was so jealous that he didn’t get to play with the cool colors. But, he will be getting some new play dough in his stocking this year, in way more than four colors…
Here’s the How:
This recipe came from An Art Nest, and Pinterest has held it hostage for me.
Supplies:
Makes four 3/4 cup sized balls
1 1/2 cups of flour
3/4 cups salt
1 1/2 cups water
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1/2 Tbs cream of tartar (this will give your dough a 3-6 month shelf life)
food coloring (I just used the cheap Wal-Mart brand liquid)
Mix all the ingredients, except for the food coloring, in a medium pot on medium-low heat. Heat for about 5-10 minutes. When it looks like dough, instead of batter, and the goop sticks together, remove from heat and dump it onto a floured cutting board or counter top.
If the dough is too hot, let it cool before you begin kneading it. Separate your dough into four balls (more or less, depending on how many colors you want to make). Add flour as you need to reach a consistency that doesn’t stick to your hands. I probably ended up adding another cup or two of flour to the whole thing.
Push the dough out to form a rough bowl shape and squeeze 3-5 drops of food coloring into the middle. Wrap up the edges to seal the coloring inside. Knead and knead and knead until the color is evenly distributed. Add more color for darker shades. (I probably ended up using closer to 10-15 drops of color). Don’t forget, you can make some really unique colors by mixing the food coloring together. I love the way that orange came out! And the lime green!
Once you have your color distributed, place each ball in an air-tight container (or zippy bag) and seal. Enjoy!
*The biggest time factor here is getting the color distributed evenly through out the dough. Your hands will get tired, as it requires a lot of kneading. Maybe save that part for a stressed-out friend… If you want to color the dough before you begin kneading it, cut the ingredients into fourths and then add the color to the pot with all the other ingredients and mix well.*
