No dying of eggs here!

We are still uncertain if our daughter has an egg allergy.  I just haven't had the heart to do the blood test.  Her last skin test was questionable in August, so I figured we just wait until she's 3 and do extensive testing then.  With that said, we don't want to endanger her with dying Easter eggs.  Instead, we painted wooden eggs.  You can find them at a craft store and maybe even Wal-Mart.  Remember just because food allergies limit us, that doesn't mean there aren't options.

First we painted the wooden eggs with white tempera paint and let them dry overnight.  They actually were dry within an hour, but painting with a toddler is a process, to say the least.

The next day, we picked paint colors and painted the eggs.  I gave our daughter the freedom to do whatever she wanted.  I did encourage her to use many colors on the last egg (she even used two brushes at the same time).  The first two eggs she painted were just one color each.

Homemade Play Dough

I'm pretty leery about so many products now that we deal with food allergies.  I don't know if store-bought play dough or clays are required to list any allergens.  So we make our own play dough and we know exactly what's in it.  It's fun and really simple.


Homemade Play Dough

1 cup flour

1 package Kool-Aid (any works, we used grape)

1 Tbsp cream of tartar

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1/4 cup salt

3/4 cup boiling hot water

1. Mix dry ingredients in bowl.

2. Stir in boiling water.

3. Mix well.

4. Store in air-tight container in fridge.  Ours has lasted close to a year!

Homemade Clay Ornaments

Here's a really easy ornament idea for kids with allergies.  I don't know about you, but I just have such a hard time trusting store bought clays and doughs.  Mostly because my daughter is so young and it ends up in her mouth no matter how many times we discuss that it's not for eating.  And with the allergies, you never know what might end up in the clay or dough.  I'm sure there aren't any regulations to list allergens on those kind of products.

Here's the recipe for homemade clay.  It make a lot. You can easily half it or store what you don't use in a zip-lock bag.  I'm not sure how long it will keep, but I would imagine at least a month.

Before we started, we looked at our Christmas tree and decided what was missing -- a moon, a gingerbread boy, twinkle star and a bunny.  We also made a handprint ornament for Daddy that we are keeping white -- it's didn't photograph very well, but turned out pretty nice.

Play Clay
1 cup cornstarch
2 cups baking soda (1lb box)
1 1/4 cup water

1. Mix cornstarch and baking soda together in saucepan.
2. Add water to cornstarch and baking soda.
3. Bring to boil on medium heat.
4. Stir constantly until mixture is consitency of mashed potaoes.
5. Remove from heat immediately and put on a plate.
6. Cover with damp cloth.

7. When dough cools, roll it out to 1/4 inch on wax paper.
8. Use a cookie cutter to make shape.
9. Poke hole in top for string to add to hang from tree. I used the other end of a small paint brush.  A pin or toothpick would work, too.
10. Allow 36 hours to dry depending on thickness. To speed up, turn oven up to 350 degrees.  Place ornaments on wire rack or in cardboard box on rack.  Leave in oven until oven is cool.
11.  Leave white or paint with paint.

Yes, my 2-year-old painted these all by herself (I'm so proud).  I stood back and watched.  She was delicate with the ornaments and painted them really nicely.  I was surprised on how deliberate she was with her strokes and choice of colors.  I tried to get her to choose a couple other colors.  But she only wanted red, pink, blue and another blue (I mixed white with blue).  I'm guessing she had a vision.

**You can also add food coloring to water before mixing it with cornstarch and baking soda**

If you are familar with clay projects, there are a lot of different items you can make.  In the past I used this clay to make a pinch-pot, which is fun to do with kids.  Since there is no baking it's really nice, especially if your resources are limited.

Be sure to check out my other toddler-friendly ornament idea here!