homemade play dough

I'm cheap. I hate buying things at the store like play dough, which will probably get played with twice and then dry out. I can thank the Pinterest Gods again for showing me many homemade play dough recipes. This is the one that worked best for us. I found the tutorial (with step by step pictures) over here. It was easy, I had all the ingredients in my pantry already and it has kept my toddler and the little girl I am babysitting busy for a while. I guess I can also add my BIG child (aka my husband) in on that list. He's currently building play dough cars as I type this!

Ingredients:

1 cup of flour

1 cup of water

1/4 cup of salt

1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

2 teaspoons of cream of tartar

food coloring

Throw all of the ingredients into a medium sized sauce pan. Doesn't matter what order, but I put the food coloring in last. I suggest a wooden spoon. It's easier to work with. Mix everything until almost all the clumps are out. Heat it up over medium heat while continually stirring. It will eventually clump up into a ball of dough (as you are stirring!). This took maybe 4-5 minutes. Take your dough blob and sit it on the counter. It's a little hot, so carefully knead it with your hands to make that play dough consistency. Now it's time to break out the rolling pin and cookie cutters and let the kids go at it!

Finished blob 

And here is my little man cutting sharks out of his portion of the dough

This is probably better than the play dough I've bought from the store. Once you are finished playing, store in an airtight container and it's good for about 6 months (says the original link)!