I admit it. I succumbed to the trend of making homemade play dough. So I did it. And you know what?  I learned that you don’t have to be a perfect mom with perfect children to make homemade play dough.  Not even close! You can do this, I promise.You don’t even have to brush your hair or get our of your pajamas. It’s quick, it’s easy and it’s cheap. Perfect for busy moms who have happy, but imperfect lives!

Ingredients needed for homemade play dough:

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1/3 cup salt
  • 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1/2 Tablespoon cream of tartar
  • Food coloring {I used liquid drops}

Note that the above will make a LARGE ball of play dough.  I did not want so much of each color, so I actually cut the recipe in half.


Steps to make homemade play dough:

1.  Grab a medium saucepan.  Add your flour, cream of tarter and salt.  Then add your water and vegetable oil.  Combine the ingredients well.

2.  Now add your food coloring.  I did not count my drops.  Just know that whatever color the mixture looks like at this stage will be the color of your play dough, so add as many drops as you want to achieve the depth of color you want.

3.  “Cook” your mixture on low heat.  You will want to stir it constantly.  It will look like a lumpy mess at first.  Don’t panic.  It will turn into play dough.   It will cook fairly quickly.  Keep it over heat and stirring until it turns into play dough.  Sorry there are no photos of this step.  It was impossible to take photos while constantly stirring 🙂

Yep, that’s it!  Told you it was easy.  Note that you will want to refrigerate your play dough so that it does not mold.  Don’t ask me how I learned that.

This is such soft play dough and my girls love it.  They are VERY into play dough at this age.  It’s nice because they can play with it at our kitchen table while we cook or get other things done.  Sometimes I craft at the table while they use their play dough.  It’s awesome.

What do you think?  Are you going to give into the temptation of making your own play dough?  It’s really easier and less impressive than it looks!!

via designertrapped