Stale bread … fresh fun
Keep your kids busy and crafty this summer using items from around the house. One of my favorites is concocting a batch of play clay from stale white bread! Since this play clay air-dries hard, it’s ideal for making beads to string for bracelets and necklaces. Or, mold shapes into petals to make a bouquet of roses.
But first, the bread clay:
Remove the crusts from six pieces of day-old white bread. Save the crusts for a treat for the birds! Tear the bread into small pieces and place in a mixing bowl. Add 2 teaspoons water and 3 teaspoons white household glue. Let your child mix with hands until the gooey, sticky mixture turns into the consistency of smooth pie dough.
To make beads:
Roll the pliable clay into balls, poke a wooden skewer through the middle for holes and set the skewer in a block of florist foam while beads harden (about 24 hours).
Paint and decorate the beads with acrylic paints, then string them with elastic to wear.
To make a rose bouquet:
Roll 10 balls of dough a bit smaller than the size of a marble and line them up an inch apart on waxed paper. Cover the little balls with another sheet of waxed paper. Press down hard on the paper with your thumb to spread out the clay. Aim for the size of a half dollar.
To create petals for a rose, remove one clay disk and curl it into a tepee shape, narrow at the top and wider at the bottom. Wrap the next disk around the opening of the tepee as if you were making it a little door. The third disk goes at the back of the tepee, the fourth along the side. Layer as many of these clay disks as you’d like. Bend back the edges of the disks ever so slightly. Don’t worry if little slits appear, because they will make the petals look more natural.
When the rose is done, insert a toothpick for a stem. Set two or three clay roses in a chunk of florist foam to harden. Paint with acrylic paints. Arrange your bouquet in a small clay pot. The lid from a can of hair spray makes a nice container, too.
Extra tip: For a long-stem rose, create one rose and then attach it to the end of a long, thin dowel. Let harden, and paint with acrylic paints. Let dry. Cover the stick with floral tape, adding a silk leaf or two, and you’ll have an everlasting rose to give someone special.