How to Make your Own Play Dough + Add Essential Oils

We’re all in this together. Stuck at home. Unsure of what’s going on in the world. Trying to avoid spreading germs and keeping those at risk around us SAFE. So with that comes a LOT of time. Our kids are in first and second grade and they love school. Their teachers are phenomenal, and daily they were being challenged to excel and shine in their every day lessons. We know that while we may not be first and second grade specific teachers, that our kids are blessed to have TWO teacher parents, who are able to be hands on and attentive during this time at home. We do not take this lightly, nor do we take it for granted. Prayerfully, nor do they…

Today after their math and reading lessons we wanted to do a fun science activity. We have been talking a lot about using resources that we already have on hand at home, so when they recently realized that their own store bought Play-doh was pretty dried up, we were inspired to make our own. The kids were so intrigued and Y’all, this was SO easy!

Here is what you would need:

• 1 cup of water

• 1 tablespoon of coconut oil (or I have read that vegetable or olive works)

• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar

• 1/2 cup of salt

• 1 cup of flour

• food coloring of choice + essential oils

You will mix everything together in a sauce pan on the stove over low/medium heat. For us it took less than two minutes to have it all stirred in and at that dough like consistency. We let it cool, then brought to the table to let the kids get started!

I saw this recipe from my friend Casey on Instagram, she is the QUEEN of DIY with her adorable girls and she is such a fun and totally real mama. (Check out her blog HERE!) Using Essential Oils to add to the homemade play-dough made this activity even more enjoyable for us as a family. We are treading through uncharted territories with this COVID-19 and stress levels can get quite high. Essential Oils in general tend to help support our emotions and today they definitely boosted our spirits AND made our house so delicious smelling. We used lemon, lavender, peppermint, and last minute I grabbed the ylang ylang to add to our pink play-dough.

Did you know that all of those oils have a huge variety of benefits when we use them!?
Lemon: refreshing, energizing, uplifting AND has anti-fungal properties
Lavender: also has anti-fungal and microbial properties, is calming, and uplifting
Peppermint: energizes, disinfects, largely energizing, and is a great oil to boost spirits
Ylang Ylang: “flower of flowers,” this one is a big mood enhancer and stress reducer and it smells heavenly!

We added about 5-10 drops of the chosen essential oil to each mound of play-doh, and overall, this activity was a WIN. The kids thanked us several times throughout the day for making it with them, they played with it super often, and the density and texture of the play-dough was spot on. Even if you don’t have kids, I still recommend making this. What a great sensory activity for you to do AT HOME, while you have a LOT of time on your hands. If you are local reading this and don’t have oils but would like to try them? E-mail or text me and I’m happy to gift you some samples. We can even practice our social distancing skills and I can leave them on the porch or in the mailbox for you ;) Seriously though. Need oils? Holler at your girl. And if you try this recipe, will you please tag me in any Instagram or Facebook posts/stories you may do!? Find me at Instagram here!

Praying for all of you, sincerely! Thanks for reading and browsing through these photos. As always, hit reply or contact me through this page.

Don't Miss the Holiday

As you get older, do you feel as if the days are going by even faster…? I remember saying this pretty much as soon as I became a mama. The days were flying by, though sometimes the weeks themselves felt long. The same rings true today, and almost more. Somehow, my kids are six and seven years old. Gone are the baby days; the days when bottles were being heated, diapers being changed, and when my babies were snuggled warm and cozy in fleece onesie pajamas. I try to embrace each year, but guys, they’re going so fast. In this moment, I am thanking God that I invested in a good camera, taught myself how to take photos with it, and that I can use it to capture these days.

We’ve looked forward to Christmas since November, let’s face it. I married an Elf and basically St. Nick himself, so each year it seems we start to decorate and prepare earlier and earlier. I’m not complaining though—the twinkle lights, gorgeous garland, family village pieces, and the beautiful Christmas tree bring SUCH an indescribable JOY to the home. This season, we are trying so hard to just ENJOY IT. Not to rush it; not to go from one thing to the next, and not to worry about the messes being made [too much anyway.]

Have you ever wished you could simply freeze time? Just for a moment. Or two.. or for a few years. I know I have and that I do often. There have been so many days that I am running from one thing to the next, constantly thinking, “What’s next?” and this year, Asa and I have tried to be intentional to just SLOW DOWN. I suppose no matter how hard I try, the days do keep speeding by…but we are still challenging ourselves to live as intentionally as possible with them. “Don’t miss the Holiday trying to make the Holiday,” has been Asa’s mantra and I completely agree. I hope you enjoy looking through these photos our Gingerbread House memory; this was the first time we have done this [I’m not sure how that’s possible?!] and it was so fun! (And messy…) :)