Chalk Is Cheap

   Im tired of buying chalk and it breaks within the first use. Even the thick pieces. Of course none of the kids want to use the broken ones. So there they sit, lonely, with no one to play with. No pavement or chalkboard wants them. Gone are the days where kids were just thankful to have something colorful to play with. 

   I've decided to try out a recipe that I found on Pinterest for home made chalk. It was really easy and didn't take very long to whip up. The waiting part took overnight but I can deal with that. You need: plaster of paris, water, food coloring, rubber scraper, a glass mixing bowl and mold of your choice. We used soap making molds.    

   Mix the plaster of paris 2:1. I started with a cup of plaster and 1/2 cup of cold water. That gave us enough to fill two big squares on our mold tray. After your plaster is mixed, you can add 8 drops of food coloring if you want. We tried adding 8 more to see if the color would be darker but it didn't seem to change very much at all. 

    

   Mix well and pour into your mold tray. Gently tap the bottom of the mold against the table to release air bubbles.

   Rinse your bowl immediately after your done with hot water and make more using different colors. Let them sit overnight to dry out. Carefully pop them out of the mold and VOILA!! We found all of our supplies at our favorite craft store AC Moore. If you sign up for their emails, you get a 40% off coupon each week. Thats when we bought our plaster. I think the coupon brought it down to around $5. That 4.4 lb carton will last us through several batches. So chalk IS cheap.

Happy Chalking!!

Home Made Bird Feeders

   Last week the kids and I decided we wanted to make bird feeders out of pinecones. So i took the kids on a walk at Turning Point Park which is such a nice place to go. If you haven't been there, you should try it. We found a lot of pinecones and we even tied our little field trip into what we were learning about in science, conifer trees.

   After we got our pinecone treasures home, we noticed a few that were not quite open yet. If you have a few like this all you need to do is turn your oven on 200-250 degrees and bake your pinecones on a cookie tray lined with wax paper. This will dry them out and allow them to open. It also gets rid of any bugs that may be inside them so thats why we just cooked all of ours. Watch them carefully, so they don't burn and once they are open you can remove them and let them cool. Ours took over an hour. I started the oven at 200 and quickly lost patience so I cranked it up to 250. 

   Besides pinecones, you will need peanut butter, string and birdseed. Tie your string on first. We tied some at the top and some at the bottom, both worked the same. Next, you lather up your cone with peanut butter and roll it in the birdseed. Ours seed was in a big bowl. I found that was easier for the kids because they could grab handfuls and pour them on the pinecones. After they are covered to your satisfaction, put them on a tray until  you are ready to hang. Then find your favorite tree branch and tie the string around the branches. Now, just wait for your feathered friends to find their hand made treats! 

It was 73 degrees on this 1st day of spring

   Another option we made afterwards was this last picture. You poke holes straight through the tube and insert sticks for the birds to perch on while they snack. Also poke two holes at the top for string to be able to hang it. Spread peanut butter on the same way and add bird seed. We took the sticks out before we started the PB and put them back in once we were done with the seed.


   My next venture is making a home made suet feeder and home made suet. Even though I work at a pet store and can probably get one cheaper than i can make one, its more fun for the kids to make it themselves.

HAPPY SPRING