If you have children in school, there is always the pressure (from your kids) to get each of their classmates a Christmas gift.  I’m all for making gifts, although I don’t know if these turned out any cheaper than buying what we made.  We had fun anyways, and that’s what counts.  Plus, I think our homemade playdough kicks butt in terms of softness!  Thank you Pinterest for the recipe!  Here’s what we did, in case you need a quick gift idea too.

First we started with the containers.  The Pinterest post on this recipe used re-purposed baby food containers with lids.  Since I don’t have a baby, I needed to buy containers.  We found these plastic cups with lids (and a bonus spoon) in the baby section of the Dollar Tree.  They were 2 for $1.00.

Then the ingredients:  flour, vegetable oil, salt, water, food coloring, and cream of tartar.  You’ll probably have all of these lying around except the cream of tartar.  And now my assistant will show you the steps…

One cup of flour…

One cup of water….

1/4 cup of salt….

Two teaspoons of Cream of Tartar…

One tablespoon of oil….

And the food coloring!  It’s probably easiest if you add this to the cup of water before putting all the ingredients in the saucepan.  It won’t hurt adding it on it’s own though.  Brooke & I realized that these food coloring bottles reminded us of the cast from Gnomeo & Juliet…haha!  She chose to make purple for her first batch.

Stir all of those ingredients in a sauce pan.

Then add the sauce pan to medium heat on the stove top.  {Adults only, please}

Keep stirring this gloppy mixture until it starts to stick to itself.  It will pull away from your saucepan & form a clump around the spoon.  Just grab the last bits off the sauce pan so you get the most dough for your ingredients.

See…it stuck!  Put the whole blob on wax paper – careful, it’s hot!

Then knead & knead…knead all those frustrations out.  This might be a tad hot for little hands.  You can put a dishtowel over the wax paper so they can knead too.  It’ll cool off in about 5 minutes.  And you’re all set!  Keep it for yourself, or give it to a friend!

Super Soft Homemade Playdough

1 cup flour

1 cup water

1/4 cup salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

food coloring

I’m pretty sure the store bought Play-Doh brand packets are cheaper, but this stuff is softer by far – especially good for little hands.  Plus it’s a fun winter break activity.  Slap a sticker on it, tie a ribbon on, and attach a cookie cutter.  You’re done!

I know Father’s Day isn’t until June 19th, but that’s just a little over one week away.  I have to order these things way ahead of time or they get away from me & I forget & end up getting something he doesn’t really like.  Now this gift isn’t for my husband, but another dad I know.  It’s a calendar, but they can be used any time of the year.  Or, it can simply be a collage of images you like, with no calendar, simply bound like the one below.  Most daddy’s head off to work each day, somewhere away from their little ones, and miss them terribly.  This is a good way of taking the kids along to work & remembering them throughout the day.  Here is is….

This is a spiral-bound 5×5 calendar, or photo book, that can easily be hung with a ribbon or string.  The front comes with a frosted cover, and the whole thing is 13 pages.

A look at a few of the pages.

The side view, and the back – a black piece of heavy paper.

Simple, but thoughtful.  And if you’re a client, I can get ya one in time for Father’s Day as long as you get me your order by Sunday night.  $20.00 + tax.

*Photos used must be from one of your sessions.  If you want specific photos, you must let me know of between 13 & 18 photos you would like included.  Payment must be made ahead of time, no COD.  Local pick-up only*

Jenn & Wes are my husband’s cousins, so instead of calling them my cousin’s-in-law, I just refer to them as my cousins – it’s just easier that way.  AND….they are probably about as close as cousins anyway.  Jenn contacted me & told me she and her brother Wes wanted to surprise their parents with a Mother’s Day/Father’s Day gift of some new photos of the two of them.  They hadn’t had family pictures since their last vacation & decided it was time.  And it was especially important since both of these kids now live states away from their parents – the memories are so much more precious.

I’d have to say it was a challenging day.  The heat, the busy downtown area, and the fact that I didn’t want it to look like Wes & Jenn were a couple.  Um, no, they are brother & sister, not a couple…ewww, gross!  They were so patient with me moving them and changing my mind over and over again.  I think we got some pretty good shots & from what I’ve heard, their parents are thrilled!  Here’s Wes & Jenn….

Just had to share this last one of Jenn & her boyfriend!  Thanks for tagging along, Grant!

I am finally putting to use one of the golden gems of advice I received from Justin & Mary Marantz from their Spread the Love Tour.  They mentioned they send their brides & grooms little notes, packages, gifts, etc., throughout the year as their wedding approaches.  Well, I decided to try the “movie night” gift since I thought I could pull it off.  I grabbed two lovey dovey movies from Target, some Crunch ‘n Munch, and a little handwritten note & put them in these boxes.  They are just a little gift to remind my couples who will be married soon to relax, take a break from planning, and enjoy a movie night with their love.  That’s all.  Hope they enjoy them.

PS – I haven’t mailed them yet, so hopefully this doesn’t spoil the surprise.  No one reads this thing anyways, right?

I found these journals in packs of 3 for about 3 bucks at Target (which you all know is a black hole in my universe, continually sucking me in…that’s another post).  Immediately when I saw them I thought they’d be great for the girls in our High School bible study.  So, I prettified them with these ribbons (I found it on old birthday bags – yes, I save those suckers) & added a pen later.  It just felt nice to think of someone besides myself.