TWO MOMS WITH SUNNY SIDE UP ATTITUDES ENCOURAGING EACH OTHER AS WE SCRATCH THROUGH NEW ADVENTURES.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Week One: Sidewalk Chalk & Bubbles - Ducky June 1 2010










When I think of summer fun with kids sidewalk chalk and bubbles come to mind. I wondered if I could make my own from home and would it save money.
My mom always made bubbles for my sister and I, along with homemade wire hanger bubble wands for giant bubbles. I got the recipe for bubbles from my mom and then went on a web search for sidewalk chalk. I found several with pictures included. They were all the same 3 ingredients. Fantastic! This will be easy. Sidewalk chalk provides hours of entertainment, boosts creativity and builds hand muscles. I was excited to begin this challenge. We started saving toliet paper tubes for the molds. We would then need water, tempera paint and plaster of paris. The plaster of paris proved to be difficult to find. We have an abundance of the common department store size craft stores in our area so the search surprised me. When I did finally find some it was labeled "fast setting"and it was only 4.97 for an 8 pound box. That'll work, right? I was to have three sets of hands working along with me how much faster would we need. First we assembled a dozen toilet paper tube molds by placing duct tape along bottom, slipped in rolled wax paper inside the tubes and lined them up in a shoe box. Next we mixed the water and plaster of paris. We had six plastic disposable bowls ready on the counter, we poured some mix in each and added colors of choice. This is were it all went downhill and deemed this challenge our first cracked egg! The plaster of paris was setting so fast, before we could get to each bowl it was begining to set. We got three good pieces of chalk out of the mix. We talked as a family about what could have been done differently. Work on one color at a time to move more quickly or follow the recipe by finding plaster of paris that is not "fast setting". Overall this challenge did not save money. A box of 52 pieces of chalk was a 1.99 on the end cap of our local craft store. For that price I am happy to not have the mess as well.

Moving on to the bubbles I was feeling hopeful. I had my mom's tried-n-true bubble recipe.
For this recipe you need:
2 cups dishwashing liquid (make sure it has nothing added ie: lotion and it's not concentrated)
6 cups cold water
3/4 cup light corn syrup
Combine ingredients in large container. We used an icecream pail we had washed and saved. It then has a lid for easy storage. Mix it gently or you'll have bubbles before you get the wands out. It is easy enough for kids to mix up while you stand by. This went together in minutes. For bubble wands you can bend wire hangers, bundle straws together with tape, a new fly swatter, or look around your home. We used the plastic rings that held the bottles of our tempura paint together. You could even use those plastic rings that hold bottles of soda in bunches of six. We made one gallon of bubbles for 2.41 At Wal-mart 32oz. is 6.99


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