Hi! I am Becky and I blog {with the help of my 2 kids} at MyKidsMake.com. I am a SAHM of 2 that loves to create and bake. If you peaked in on us at our house you would see paint and markers scattered over the dining room table, rolls of packing tape furiously being used {by my son}, and lots and lots of snacking.
We are creating and baking almost every day, and always on a budget! That is why I am really excited to be guest posting here with you! I am sure you are looking for fun project ideas to do with your kids over the summer, and here is one I wanted to share with you:
Cornstarch Beaded Jewelry
This is a great project that can be done either inside or out. You could easily bring the dough outside to a picnic table and let your kids make their beads out in the fresh air. Got a rainy day in your forecast? Making beads indoors can help ease some of those rainy day blues!
First things first, you need to make a batch of the cornstarch bead dough. It is easy and takes only a few minutes.
Mix together:
- ½ cup cornstarch
- ½ cup baking soda
- ¼ cup salt
- ½ cup water
Combine all ingredients in a pot over medium heat. Mix well until it has thickened {similar to mashed potatoes}. This only takes a few minutes, so don’t walk away. Remove the pan from heat. Gather the dough into a ball in the pan. Once cool enough to touch, remove the dough and separate into smaller balls. The dough begins to dry and harden so don’t wait too long.
Here’s an option: make colored dough by adding food color drops to the mixture. Make a few batches of dough and experiment with various colors. Or leave the dough plain, and have your kids paint their beads once they have created them!
Give your kids each a ball of the dough, and let them immediately begin making their own beads! My kids experimented with making various shapes of beads: hearts, triangles, rectangles, and even one shaped like a donut {as my son refers to it}. The options really are endless!
Use a straw to poke a hole through the beads so that you can thread them onto a string later. (Note: we tried using a toothpick, but once the beads had dried the holes got VERY small and difficult to thread). Leave the beads to dry and harden. You can place the beads on a pan (placed on parchment paper) at 200° in the oven to speed up the drying, or place them out in the sun.
Once dried, get out the paints and let your kids now have fun painting their beads.
Once the paint has dried, string the beads onto yarn, string, elastic, etc! My kids have been wearing their creations {and so have I} ever since we made them. I hope you and your kids have as much fun as we did!
Stop by MyKidsMake and check out what else we are up to.
Thanks for having me Lori!
Thanks, Becky for such a fun frugal project! MyKidsMake is one of the first blogs I check out when I’m looking for at-home activities with my kids – I just love it! You can scroll through HERE (past this post) for more Summer Staycation ideas.
Posted in: staycation
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Fun idea, Becky! I like your blog, too, Lori. Wish there were blogs when my kids were small.
I used this recipe to do a handprint mold for fathers day. It cracked a bit so I might try putting it in the oven to see if that helps. It was nice because I didn’t have to rush to get the hand in the mold.
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