Today I have the privilege of introducing my guest Ashley Campbell, of Under The Sycamore. Ashley is a Christian, mother to 3 boys and 1 girl, a talented photographer, avid do-it-yourself-er, and a blogger extraordinaire! She was so gracious to agree to write a guest post for this week's Raising Boys theme. I hope you are blessed by her creativity, and are inspired to spend time making and creating with your boys today.
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Guest Post by Ashley, of Under The Sycamore
The title of the post Ruth gave me, "Raising Boys...who love to craft" made me laugh a little bit. I love to craft, but it is not on the top 5 list of things my boys love to do. Over the years I have attempted all kinds of crafts with them always hoping they will enjoy it as much as I do. Sometimes they do really get excited about the project, sometimes they don't. I've found if I can relate the craft to something they already enjoy then it usually results in a great activity for all of us.
Today I want to share my twist on using salt dough. Salt dough is a basic recipe for all kinds of craft projects. In our house Legos are a big deal. In fact, playing with the Min-Figs (that is Lego lingo for the little Lego Mini-Figurines) makes up the majority of free time in my house. I am happy to report my boys loved this craft. I am pretty confident this will be one we repeat a lot. (just to note...this craft is best done in 2 days, see step 4)
4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 1/2 cups hot tap water
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
Craft paint
Clear acrylic spray
LEGO Minifigure Ice Cube Tray
Step 1: Combine flour, salt & water. Add oil. Knead. If it is too dry, add water. If too sticky, add flour.
Step 2: Create shapes with your salt dough. We firmly filled the ice molds with dough and trimmed excess.
Step 3: Pop out the min-fig molds. Place your min-figs and all other creations on a cookie sheet.
Step 4: Your salt dough now needs to completely dry. You can let it dry overnight or bake it at 200 F in the oven for several hours. The main thing is to make sure it is hard and dry. We started in the oven, but still had to let them sit out overnight to dry completely.
Step 5: Using basic craft paint and small paint brushes paint the dry dough.
Step 6: Once the paint is dry, spray the entire min-fig (and other creations) with Clear Acrylic Spray. I used a glossy spray. If you skip this step your paint will rub off.
Step 7: Enjoy your unique min-fig creations!
Creating Min-Figs out of salt dough isn't a craft project I dream about, but I am pretty sure now my boys do. Crafting with my boys is about doing something with them that they love. It is about teaching them to think outside the box and be creative in ways that they normally do not. They already know I love to be creative, but crafting with them is about showing them how I enjoy creating with them...even if it means painting Lego Men instead of flowers.
Thanks for having me as a guest Ruth...it is an honor to post here!
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Thank you, Ashley! I can't wait to try this with my boys. There's no doubt min-figs would be a huge hit at our house! I so appreciate you taking the time to guest post here!
Be sure to check out Ashley's beautiful and inspiring blog!