Homemade Microwave Puffy Paint & Associated Messes

I know, I know...it's Tuesday.  Sorry I'm late.  But I have a fun DIY kids activity to write about today!  So maybe you'll forgive me.

This picture is not mine.  I just didn't have any good pictures to introduce this amazing activity!  This is from the blog where I originally found the idea.  You can get there, too by clicking the link below.

Ok, so I found this idea for homemade puffy paints on Pinterest probably close to 2 years ago.  I pulled it out one day while I was babysitting my friend's 4 kids with my (at the time) 2.  The kids LOVED IT!  In fact, my friend's daughter requests it every time she comes over!  And I hear no complaints from anyone else. ;)

Here's the recipe:

• 1 cup flour
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt 
• Enough water to make it about the consistency of pancake batter

You will also need:

• Sandwich sized Ziploc baggies
•  Food coloring
• Some kind of paper (in my experience: the thicker, the better!)

So all you do is mix all these ingredients together until you get most of the lumps out (at least, it has lumps when I do it...you might have the magic touch...haha!).  Then you can separate it into however many Ziploc bags you want to (I usually do 4).

I just thought of this amazing mug idea the most recent time I did this.  Just place the bags inside the mugs and fold down the sides.  It makes the separation step SO MUCH easier!

Then you can add a few drops of food coloring to each bag to make whatever colors you want.  Once you drop the food coloring in and seal it, let the kiddos do the hard work of mixing them in.  They love squishing the baggies around until all the color is mixed in!

When you're ready to paint (aka: when the kids have squished the bags for so long that one of them has finally busted open) just cut off a tiny bit of one corner in the baggie.  Keep in mind: you can always make it bigger if needed, but it becomes problematic when you try to make it smaller...so start small!

Then let the kids have at it!

(No pictures...sorry...I fail)

When they have finished one masterpiece (because let's face it, they're gonna want to make multiple of these), put it in the microwave and cook it for 30-45 seconds (or more), depending on how thick the globs of paint turn out to be.  Just keep popping it in the microwave a little at a time until it has "cooked through".  When it comes out it gets all puffy and feels really cool!

If it smells a little bit like pancakes in your house, you're doing it right! ;)

Here are a few of our creations:

Now, if your kids paint similar to the lower picture (one big glob on the paper), you may run into this problem...

Yes...that's an ink stain on my finished wood table...I found several the last time we did this project.  I may or may not have had a minor heart-attack.  They weren't wiping off, and I had no idea how to resolve this problem.  Thank goodness for the age of the internet and search engines!  (Google here I come.)  I just typed "how to get ink stains off finished wooden furniture" into my search bar.

This is what I found as I was freaking out, but trying not to look like I was freaking out:

I was told to make a paste out of baking soda and vinegar, and scrub the stains with that and a damp rag.  So that's what I did.  I got a damp rag, sprinkled some baking soda on it, and poured a little vinegar on that until it seemed 'paste'-like.  Then I rubbed it over all the stained areas.

Before...







 ...and after!






Would you believe it actually worked?!?!?!  (Whew...luckily I figured that out before I had a real heart attack with 7 kids in the house!)  I have become amazed over the past year with the plethora of uses for baking soda and vinegar.  Cleaning your stovetop, getting cat pee out of mattresses and blankets (remember that time when I made S'mores Bars?), and so many other things!  I finally decided to buy the stuff in bulk from Sam's Club.

Best. Decision. Of. My. Life.

Except maybe for marrying my husband...

And having my kids.......

Ok, so there are other more important things, but you get my drift!

I hope that someday these ramblings help somebody on a rainy day!  Happy Tuesday to you all!

<3

When the Cat Wets Your Bed...You Make S'mores

My kids go to bed in their own beds really well.  But usually, by morning, one or all of them are in our bed.  I don't even notice them coming in anymore.  They're just there when I go to shift in the middle of the night.  If they wake up before me they just play around my bed until I'm coherent enough to call myself "awake".  Well, a few days ago I woke up to my 4-year-old son playing by the side of my bed, and I noticed that his pajama shirt was all wet down the front.....so I asked him what happened.  He proceeded to tell me how he had been holding one of our two five-month-old kittens on the bed, and that he had squeezed it so hard that it peed on him.  At first, I laughed!  Just the prospect of squeezing someone so hard you make them urinate makes you giggle a little bit.  And then it suddenly sank in that there had to be cat pee ON MY BED!  I popped up and inspected the sheets.  Yep...there was cat pee...on my blankets and in my mattress.  Ugh!!!  If any of you have cats, you know how their pee STINKS, and that stink can last for a long time!  It's horrible!

So I searched the internet for what to do for my poor mattress.  I found this idea, and decided to try it. (If you click the link, it will open in a new page. Or you can read my description of it below.)

For me, it was definitely a success!  So I thought I'd share:

How to Get Cat Urine Out of Your Mattress


Things you'll need:

• Paper Towels or Towel
• Wet/dry Vac (Optional...I didn't use one)
• Liquid Measuring Cup
• Baking Soda
• White Vinegar
• Water
• Dish Soap
• 3% Hydrogen Peroxide

 Step 1: If the urine is fresh, blot up as much of it as you can!  Use a towel or paper towels and press and hold all over the spot until you get most of it out.  You can also use a wet/dry vac if you'd prefer, but I didn't.  If it's an old stain, or already dried, skip to the next step.

Step 2: Put a mixture of 50% vinegar and 50% water in your liquid measuring cup, and pour a small amount onto the area (She recommends approx. 50 ml--or about 1/4 cup).  Then continue blotting (as described above), or use a wet/dry vac.

Step 3: Sprinkle a good handful of baking soda over the area.

Step 4: Mix 1/4 cup of the 3% hydrogen peroxide with 1 tsp of dish soap.  Drizzle that over the baking soda and work it in with your fingers or a scrub-brush.

Step 5: Allow this to sit for about 15 min.  Then blot the liquid out of the mattress again.  (She says, at this point, to NOT use a wet/dry vac...just blot.)

Step 6: Leave the mattress to dry thoroughly.  I left it with a fan blowing on it all day, and that worked fine.  You could also put it out in the sun to dry, use a hair-dryer, or a heater.

Step 7: Use your fingers or a brush to break-up the dry baking soda, and vacuum it up!

Ta-Da!!!  The smell was gone!  And my mattress even looked a little whiter in that area.  ;)

To get the smell out of the blankets and sheets (because just a regular wash didn't do it like I thought it would), I poured the vinegar/water mixture on the spot and sprinkled some baking soda on it.  I let that sit for between 15 & 30 min, and then washed it normally.  Once I did that, the smell was gone!  *Happy dance*

This happened again a few days later (minus the loving squeeze), and I used the same method.  I am loving this!  Although, I'm not-so-much loving the reason that I have to use it ...

After a long day of cleaning cat pee, you need an easy-to-make, sweet snack.  What could be better at the end of Summer than S'mores?  (Okay...so they're s'mores bars.  But that makes them even better!  Not as messy to eat!)  I found these on Pinterest, here.  I just tried making them for the first time, and they are DELICIOUS!  I can't stop eating them!  (This could be a problem...)

Here's the recipe:

Golden Graham S'mores Bars

Ingredients:

• 1 bag (10.5 oz)* miniature marshmallows (abt. 5 1/2 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups (9 oz.) milk chocolate chips
• 5 Tbsp. butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 box (13 oz)** Golden Grahams cereal (abt. 8 cups)

*This is what the recipe called for, but my bag was only 10 oz.  I added a few large marshmallows I had on hand, because I LOVE to have my treats TOTALLY covered with chewy goodness.
**This is what the recipe called for, but my box was only 12 oz, and it was just fine.

1. Grease 9x13-inch pan.  Reserve 1 cup of the marshmallows.
2. In a large saucepan, melt the chocolate chips, butter, corn syrup, and remaining marshmallows over low heat.  Have your 4-year-old stir it until it's completely melted. ;)
   
   
3. Remove from heat.  Stir in vanilla.
4. Add cereal to the saucepan.  Stir until completely coated with the melted chocolate mixture.  Stir in remaining 1 cup marshmallows. (Or, if you're like me, you'll forget this step...in which case you can sprinkle them on top later.)

   

   Yes, I believe in child labor. Jk.  But seriously, this is a great recipe for kids to help with!

5. Grease either the back of a spoon or your hands (or your kids hands) and press the mixture into the 9x13 pan.

   

   The kiddos love to help!

   

   I forgot to stir in the full marshmallows, so I sprinkled them on top.  That's my daughter trying to sneak a marshmallow...silly goose!

6. Cool at least 1 hour, or until firm (or dig in...I couldn't wait!)
7. Store loosely covered at room temperature (That is, if any survive to see the next day)
    

YUUUUUMMMMMMMM!!!  These are so good!  And my kids loved helping me make them.  It was a good "quality time" activity.

Pinterest WIN!!!

Go whip up a batch for yourself, and let me know how they turn out!  I'll read your comments while I slowly take small bite after small bite, and pretend that I'm not eating the whole pan!