The Power of Playdough

The other day Braden and I made playdough using KoolAid mix. I thought it might occupy Braden for, oh, ten minutes or so in order for me to do the dishes or some other equally glamorous chore. [By the way, he LOVES cooking with me...every time he hears me get out a mixing bowl - which, let's be honest, happens daily and sometimes hourly - he runs over to get his little chair and pulls it up to the counter and starts getting every cooking utensil we have out of the drawer and shouts "Braden's turn?"...because we take turns mixing. ]

So, we mixed the ingredients. And it took maybe four minutes. We used lemon KoolAid...however it did not result in yellow playdough or a lemon scent. I was sorely disappointed. Next time, I think I will go heavier on the KoolAid and pick a different flavor.

Anyway, enough random sidenotes. So the playdough was made. I had found this kids' baking set in the clearance section at TJMaxx that had a little rolling pin and cookie cutters, so I got those out and showed Braden how to roll out the playdough, use the cookie cutters, etc. He insisted on taking over from there and then played with the playdough FOR TWO HOURS!!! No joke. I kept checking back, expecting him to have moved on, but he was still totally into it!

Now for my favorite part of the whole experience. He played independently for most of the two hours (actually that is my second favorite part, my favorite part is coming). He did ask me for some help when he was trying to make people out of the playdough. I should probably mention here that he is a little obsessed with saying the names of two of our friends, Kimi and Jeff. He just loves the way their names sound together. So it is not uncommon for me to hear him talking to himself while we are driving in the car and saying "KimiandJeff...JeffandKimi...JeffJeffJeff...KimiJeffKimiJeff." Anyway, after he had me make a Daddy, Braden and Mommy out of playdough, he asked me to make a Kimi and a Jeff out of playdough. I laughed out loud. Too bad I didn't get a picture of my attempt.

So, while Braden was mesmerized by our playdough, I got a few things done. I made a diaper cake for a friend's baby shower. It was kind of an experiment since I'd never constructed one before and the actual building of it took the most time. I would have liked to have added some more stuff to it but ran out of time. At least I had fun trying something new! Here is a picture of it partway:

And while I am posting project pictures, here is a baby wipes case I decorated and a diaper clutch I sewed (also for the baby shower...because I fully support attempts to make diaper changing more enjoyable):


And finally, a reupholstery project. In this case, two foam chairs I got off Craigslist for five bucks a few months ago. I have been looking at the ugly Winnie-the-Pooh fabric covering them for way too long. And I am a little bit OCD and really wanted them to match the rest of the room so that my house doesn't appear to be completely taken over by toddler/baby stuff. So here is the before:


And the after.

Kind of boring fabric, I know. It happened to be left over from sewing the curtains (the picture makes the chair look yellow, but they match, I promise). Maybe Winnie the Pooh was just SO exciting that I needed something UNexciting. I am just so glad Winnie the Pooh is gone.

Well, that's the latest from The Factory lately. [The Factory is what I call my sweatshop where I am chained to my sewing machine...in reality, the only person giving me impossible deadlines and piling the projects on when I am in the middle of half-finished projects is myself.]

The take-home message is that playdough is CAPTIVATING. If you would like to experience the power of playdough in your kitchen, please see below.



Kool-Aid Playdough (Nonedible...but won't kill you unless you eat the whole batch)

Alum is a pickling spice found in the spice section of your grocery store. It makes the playdough last longer.

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• ½ cup salt
• 1 Tbsp Alum
• 1 package unsweetened Kool-Aid ( 6 g Pkg )
• 1 to 2 Tbsp cooking oil
• 2 cups boiling water

Mix all together and knead well.