What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Friday, April 02, 2010

Homemade Silly Putty

(Totally whacked out exposure, but I loved Andrews expression. So here ya go anyway.)

This weekend we are going to an egg hunt and since there are going to be about a gazillion children there (a good thing), each family is bringing a dozen filled eggs to contribute.

I figured there would be plenty of candy instead those plentiful eggs, so I opted to fill our eggs with homemade silly putty. ( I labelled the eggs SILLY PUTTY, to be sure children knew not to eat it and to give parents of babies the opportunity to exchange them with older children.)

It was perfect, actually, because the children not only helped MAKE the putty, but got to spend about an hour playing with it before we set it aside for the party (and trust me, they would have played longer had I let them.)

Homemade silly putty is super SUPER simple to make and incredibly fun to play with (even for us grown-ups).

Though this putty is a *slightly* different texture and will not pick up images like the commercial stuff, it should be used with care around clothing and carpets just like the storebought kind.

I thought I would throw this up here in case anyone needs a silly putty addition to their Easter festivities. ;-) Or just need something to do.

This is what you need:



Sta-Flo is liquid starch and usually found near the Bleach and Laundry items in the grocery store. It runs around $2.50 but you only use a smidgen. It will last you a long time!
Elmers School Glue. I had boatloads from CVS back-to-school sales to use, but I bet generic brands of school glue would also work.
Food coloring, optional.

The ratio is 2 parts glue to 1 part Sta Flo. Use this for your individualized amount, or go with mine:

I wanted to make enough putty to fill a dozen eggs, so I used...

1 cup glue 1/2 cup Sta Flo

I threw it in the kitchen aid mixer and turned it on low and within a minute, I heard it thumping and found it ready.

(Or you could just stir/knead it until it thickens.)

Once done, add food coloring. Or not. Whatever! But if you do: fold over the putty, encasing the drops of food coloring (so your hands don't soak up the dye) and knead until uniform in color.


We made ours purple (1 drop red, 2 drops blue) and turquoise (2 drops green, 2 drops blue).

(a serious onlooker)



(adding color)



(kneading)


(It is squeezable)

(It is stretchable)


(and very playable)

We give it a thumbs-up!!

4 comments:

Bonnie said...

I've been wanting to make some too, especially now that it can be played with OUTSIDE.
When you're cursed with (well formerly) white carpet, messy projects just hafta wait for warm weather.

What a great bring along idea!

Terri said...

Awesome!!!! My children are past this age, but I'm in charge of the children's ministry at church. I envision silly putty in a future event! :-)

HisWillingVessel said...

Hi Rebecca
That looks like fun I will have to make a batch for the kids. Does it matter what starch you use? Have you ever had the kids make polymers? They are very fun also made with elmers glue and borax I believe. You should try it I think they would have fun with them.

Happy Easter hope all is well with you and yours. Do you know what you are having yet? Baby wise that is?

Hugs
Brenda

Unknown said...

Sweet! :) Neat-O! We've made something like this...a "flubber" type thing with glue, borax, water ??? and something else! FUN!