Incredible Edible Crafts

This is an article filled with recipes for edible crafts and many edible Play Dough recipes, even edible paint and more!! Enjoy these fun projects with your children by letting your imagination be your guide be an "un-grownup", it's FUN!

Jell-O Play Dough

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 2 teaspoons Cream of Tarter
• 1 (3-1/2 oz.) package "unsweetened" Jell-O

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until consistency of mashed potatoes.

Let cool and knead with floured hands until dry.

Storage: This recipe needs to cool completely "before" storing it in an airtight container!

Note: The items made from this play dough recipe can be painted when they are dry.

Cream Cheese Play Dough

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. package of cream cheese
• 1/2 cup non-fat dry milk
• 1 tablespoon honey
• crackers or bread slices

Directions:

Combine cream cheese, milk and honey in a bowl and mix until well blended.

Mold sculptures on was paper.

Storage: Unused portions MUST BE STORED in an airtight container and kept refrigerated!!! Because cream cheese is perishable, use the expiration date on the cream cheese package as your guide for how long you can keep this play dough.

Note: The shapes can then be placed on crackers or bread slices, decorated with edibles (celery or carrot slivers, raisins, dried fruit pieces, nuts, or seeds for a healthy snack... then EAT!!

Frosting Play Dough

CAUTION: This recipe contains peanut butter and some children are allergic to peanut butter!!!! 

Ingredients:

• 1 can frosting (any flavor)
• 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter

Directions:

Mix together until dough reaches desired consistency

Storage: When not using, MUST be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated. Next time you want to use it, let it come to room temperature for pliable dough.

Chocolate Play Dough

Ingredients: 

• 8 oz. semisweet chocolate
• 1/4 cup plus one tablespoon light corn syrup

Directions:

Melt the chocolate in a metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water (a double boiler).

Stir the chocolate with a spoon until smooth, then stir in the corn syrup.

The chocolate will stiffen almost immediately but stir completely combined.

Transfer the chocolate to a sturdy plastic bag and refrigerate until firm; the consistency will be that of Play Dough. When firm, the dough can be worked by kneading. If it is too hard, cut off small pieces and knead until pliable.

If the dough sticks to the counter when rolling, lightly spray counter or breadboard with vegetable spray or lightly grease with vegetable oil.

1. hand shape the dough into a rope or braid, making two or three long ropes and twist or braid them together -- can be used as the outside edge on top of a cake or around the base.

2. Make ribbons to cover the cake. To do this, pat your dough into a disk shape and roll dough out to desired thickness using a rolling pin or else use a manual pasta machine.

3. Flowers, too!

Compliments of www.joyofbaking.com

Storage: When not using, MUST be stored in an airtight container and refrigerate

Chocolate Clay

Ingredients: 

• 10 ounces chocolate
• almond bard or candy discs
• 1/3 cup corn syrup

Directions:

Slowly melt candy and stir until smooth.

Add syrup and blend thoroughly.

Pour onto waxed paper and spread with fingers until about 1/2 inch thick.

Cover loosely with waxed paper and allow it to stiffen (couple of hours). Then play and eat.

To make flower petals, roll out little balls and flatten them, then pinch the petals together and these make wonderful "I Love You" gifts, even if it isn't Valentine's Day.

Compliments of Kim Swanger

Storage: When not using, MUST be stored in an airtight container and refrigerate

Fruit Loop Necklaces (a simple tool for reinforcing "patterning") 

Give the children a piece of elastic cording approximately 18-inches long and a bowl of dry fruit loops. Help them sort the fruit loops into colors and decide on a pattern to string on the elastic cording (example: red, yellow, red, green, red, yellow, red, green, etc.)

Pizza Heads

(helps children to identify parts of a face and recognize that no two "people" are exactly the same and everyone is special) 

• Refrigerator biscuits (larger ones work best)
• Pizza Sauce Cheese Pepperoni
• sausage
• olives or whatever foods you can think of

Flatten biscuit for each child and help them put sauce on it then let them use their own imaginations for designing their person's face (example: pepperoni eyes, olive nose, pineapple mouth or teeth, cheese hair, sausage ears, etc.)

Finger Paint Pudding

(starting out with clean hands is a good idea!) 

Just mix instant pudding and place approximately one-quarter cup on a Styrofoam meat tray for each child. Let them have fun drawing and licking as they go!

Jell-O Finger-Paint

(allows the children to taste, smell, see and touch the colors)

In a small bowl, mix dry gelatin with hot water 1 teaspoon at a time until a paste is formed. This will be grainy. By adding more or less water, you can make it the consistency you want it to be.

Trees (imagination is the key!)

Prepare ahead of time two or three pans of Jell-O in thin layers using fall colors (cherry, lime, lemon, etc.). Buy pretzel sticks and place one large one for the tree trunk on a paper plate for each child. Let them use small leaf cookie cutters to cut out the "leaves" of their trees from the Jell-O.

Tasty Paint 

1 can sweetened condensed milk Several drops of food coloring Give the children paintbrushes and paper or just let them use their fingers. The paint will be a pastel color and when it dries, it will be kind of glossy.

Grilled Cheese People

(children can use their imaginations while helping you prepare their lunch!) 

Ahead of time, use a round cookie cutter to cut out circles from slices of bread. Let the children top the circles with cheese. To make each cheesy person, use two circles (one for the head and one for the body). Place them on a cookie sheet, add bacon bits eyes, noses and buttons. Broil until the cheese melts and give one cheesy person to each child. Let them then add the arms and legs (carrot and celery sticks) and the bread left over from cutting out the circles can now be used as shoes, gloves, hats, neckties, bows, etc.

by Mary Ann Ross  at http://www.thepartyworks.com maryann@thepartyworks.com.