Today I have the privilege of introducing my guest Ashley Campbell, of Under The Sycamore. Ashley is a Christian, mother to 3 boys and 1 girl, a talented photographer, avid do-it-yourself-er, and a blogger extraordinaire! She was so gracious to agree to write a guest post for this week’s Raising Boys theme. I hope you are blessed by her creativity, and are inspired to spend time making and creating with your boys today.
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Guest Post by Ashley, of Under The Sycamore
The title of the post Ruth gave me, “Raising Boys…who love to craft” made me laugh a little bit. I love to craft, but it is not on the top 5 list of things my boys love to do. Over the years I have attempted all kinds of crafts with them always hoping they will enjoy it as much as I do. Sometimes they do really get excited about the project, sometimes they don’t. I’ve found if I can relate the craft to something they already enjoy then it usually results in a great activity for all of us.
Today I want to share my twist on using salt dough. Salt dough is a basic recipe for all kinds of craft projects. In our house Legos are a big deal. In fact, playing with the Min-Figs (that is Lego lingo for the little Lego Mini-Figurines) makes up the majority of free time in my house. I am happy to report my boys loved this craft. I am pretty confident this will be one we repeat a lot.
(just to note…this craft is best done in 2 days, see step 4)
4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 1/2 cups hot tap water
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
Craft paint
Clear acrylic spray
LEGO Minifigure Ice Cube Tray
Step 1: Combine flour, salt & water. Add oil. Knead. If it is too dry, add water. If too sticky, add flour.
Step 2: Create shapes with your salt dough. We firmly filled the ice molds with dough and trimmed excess.
Step 3: Pop out the min-fig molds. Place your min-figs and all other creations on a cookie sheet.
Step 4: Your salt dough now needs to completely dry. You can let it dry overnight or bake it at 200 F in the oven for several hours. The main thing is to make sure it is hard and dry. We started in the oven, but still had to let them sit out overnight to dry completely.
Step 5: Using basic craft paint and small paint brushes paint the dry dough.
Step 6: Once the paint is dry, spray the entire min-fig (and other creations) with Clear Acrylic Spray. I used a glossy spray. If you skip this step your paint will rub off.
Step 7: Enjoy your unique min-fig creations!
Creating Min-Figs out of salt dough isn’t a craft project I dream about, but I am pretty sure now my boys do. Crafting with my boys is about doing something with them that they love. It is about teaching them to think outside the box and be creative in ways that they normally do not. They already know I love to be creative, but crafting with them is about showing them how I enjoy creating with them…even if it means painting Lego Men instead of flowers.
Thanks for having me as a guest Ruth…it is an honor to post here!
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Thank you, Ashley! I can’t wait to try this with my boys. There’s no doubt min-figs would be a huge hit at our house! I so appreciate you taking the time to guest post here!
Be sure to check out Ashley’s beautiful and inspiring blog!
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I LOVE this project. Have already bought the mold and envision my son creating loads and loads of these, perhaps a lego garland is in our future. I love Ashlee and am a long time reader of her blog. Awesome guest post!
@ Sara, I love the lego garland idea. There are so many uses for room decor and party themes…
Great idea! This is my first visit to your blog; very cool. This post has inspired all kinds of creative ideas for not just my little man, but my daughter too! I see some hearts and flowers on a ribbon — like a necklace. Anyhow, the link for the Lego ice cube tray doesn’t work. I’ve been trying to no avail. Just wanted to let you know
Do you have a source for the Lego Mini-Fig Ice Molds?
@Suzy and Jamie, I fixed the link! So sorry about that…one little typo.
So good to have you visit over here! Thanks, and happy min-figuring!
When Ashley says “Craft paint”, are we just talking about the cheap little 50 cent bottles of acrylic paint?
@n, Yes! I think that’s exactly what Ashley’s talking about. Cheap acrylic paint that comes in little bottles. Since you are spraying it afterwards, any acrylic will stay put and stay fresh!
were can I find the ice shapes, wow this is a great project I love it!!!
@Miranda: Just click on “Lego Ice Mold” in the post…it’s a link that will take you to the Lego site where you can purchase them!
I bought the mold and will have this as the boy craft at my daughter’s arts & craft birthday party next weekend…. genius! Thanks you soooooo much!
oh my, that looks like SO much fun!!!! must get the ice mold!
this is amazing! ashley ann does it again!! i love her blog and am happy to find your’s through her’s! i ordered two ice cube trays minutes ago to do this craft with my son and his friends! thanks!!
These are super sweet! I’ve read Ashley’s blog for a while now & I love the couple min-figs wearing some clothes her kids really have. I spy the eyeglass onesie & stunt man shirt!
@Cory, I noticed the same thing! The eyeglass onesie was my fave!
I have that mold – we used it to make chocolates for my sons birthday parties. I can’t wait to try them with this idea! Thanks!
What a genius idea. I love, love, LOVE it! I just clicked over from Ashely’s gorgeous blog. I would love to link to this if that’s ok!
Sure, Rachel! Link away!
AW, man! I wish I had seen this post *before* my son’s lego birthday party, which was on 2/20! Definitely one to keep in mind for next year. Thanks for sharing!
These are soooo super cute!!!
This is such an awesome craft project! My son would love it. I checked the Lego website and unfortunately it says that the ice tray isn’t for sale in the US. No worries – I’m checking Amazon as I type this to see if they sell it.
What a fun idea! And I love both of your blgos.
I love this post and we did it a few weeks ago. All three of my boys LOVED it! Thanks so much for your post. You can see pictures from our fun time making lego men here: http://mommycricket.blogspot.com/2011/07/whitman-original-lego-men.html Glad to find your blog and I look forward to checking out more things on here with 3 boys!
THis is WONDERFUL – I’m especially thinking of my 8yr old girl who wants to play legos with her brothers, but wants a “girl version”. And my 6yr old boy who loses the min-figs faster than you can say it!
Such a cute craft! Thanks so much for sharing!
Amber
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We are having a lego theme birthday for my turning-7 year old on Monday and are working on it now . . . I’m loving that the act of MAKING the figurines is engaging them and I’ve been able to work on a cake while they worked on filling up the cookie tray!
So perfect for a lego party, Michelle!! I hope your son has a wonderful birthday party on Monday!