Salt Dough Ornaments

I wouldn't normally consider myself a crafty person-- maybe it's the season or maybe it's me taking time away from the beach...I'm not sure-- but as my kids and I began making salt dough ornaments.... a wave of creative inspiration came over me.

  ....and I created this ornament with a cookie cutter and plastics removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC. 
(yes, I'm proud)  

So what is it??  Salt dough painted with water colors, decorated with small plastics that I found on Wrightsville Beach... and it's hanging from littered fishing line (that I also found on the beach).

Wanna make your own?  YAY!!  It's super easy and lots of fun.  <--- says the very uncrafty girl ;)

Salt Dough Ornaments

1 cup salt

1 1/2 cups hot tap water

4 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 325˚ F.  

Dissolve salt in hot water.  Mix flour into salt water until completely combined.  Kneed briefly until soft and pliable.  

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough ball out into an even thickness of about 1/8"- 1/4".  Cut shapes using cookie cutters, then add a hole at the top. (TIP: I cut the dough ball into 4 pieces... one for each of my kids and me)

Place on cookie sheets and bake at 325˚ F until hard, about 40 minutes to an hour.  Remove from oven and let cool.

Decorate:  Get crafty and use what you have.... or go hit the beach for some inspiration ;)

P.S.  Before we decorated them, my husband thought they were cookies and took a bite! YUCK!!  Do your loved ones teeth and taste buds a favor and let everyone know that they are not cookies! ;)

Repurpose That Ribbon!!!

Last week, I collected all of our plastic waste for the week.... including plastics that came from Christmas gifts.  Our total for the week added up to 37 pieces of plastic.  (If you recall, back in September I collected ONLY our kitchen plastic waste for the week and we had 40 pieces of plastic.)

Most plastic that we accumulated during last week-- for the most part-- aren't things that we can reuse.  BUT.... there are a few things that we can repurpose... like a ribbon that was on a gift.  Sure we could save it and reuse it for when we gift something... but I'm not all into that whole wrapping gifts thing and I know that most likely the ribbon would find its way to the landfill (or worse... littered!!).

 Sooooo.... yesterday... I asked my daughter if she wanted to make her Christmas ornament for the year.  (of course, she said "Definitely!!")  She went outside to our side porch where we have flower pots filled with sea shells... yes, my kids pick up more than litter at the beach!!! ;)  She picked out seashells that had holes in them.... cut the ribbon.... and then she made this....

   

Better than any premade ornament that we could ever buy in a store :)

Valentine Cards

So the other day, my girl Jennifer and I were talking about Valentines. She was telling me how every year she spends hours making Valentines and is wondering why not just buy them? They don't really cost much... and there really isn't that much packaging. I, of course, got on a tangent about how much more meaning a homemade card has vs. a store bought card. Not to mention, the plastic wrap surrounding a box of store bought Valentines. I'm not sure why I kept talking because talking to Jennifer (my super hero friend) is like preaching to the choir. ;)

From the moment my kids had their first Valentine's party in preschool, I made the decision that we would always make Valentine's cards. Not because it was the environmentally responsible thing to do. But, more so because it would be a good learning activity for my kids. Cards made by my kids (and not from a box) are individual, creative and offer a well-rounded learning experience. Sure if we get a box of "character" valentines they can write their names and the names of their friends. BUT, if they make valentines then they get to create and design by cutting, coloring, writing, and sometimes gluing.

They also learn that gifts (and tokens of appreciation) don't have to come from a store.