pinned it. did it. {with meg}

Meg is back with another DIY she found on Pinterest. Ellie would love this! And I think it would appeal to the science teacher in Jon. Might be a perfect thing for them to do this weekend. Thanks Meg!

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The cold January weather has brought us the most lovely snow flurries this morning. When we look out the window, it looks like a snow globe in our neighborhood. It’s a comforting type of snow. Not a run out to the grocery store and stock up on staples type of snow. And with the windchill outside, it’s too cold to take my son out to play. So we pulled up my Pinterest board where I pin Kid Crafts and Activities and picked a fun indoor activity. I’ve been eyeing various homemade play dough recipes and we settled on a no-cook version that uses our essential oils.  

A perk to using a no-cook method, was that my son, Julian, was able to help measure and pour (all except the boiling water). This recipe requires few ingredients that are all non-toxic and chemical free. 

 

I split our dough into three portions so that we could have three different scents of dough. We are really loving using essential oils in our house and I love the therapeutic qualities it adds to an already therapeutic and soothing activity. We used Wild Orange, Lemon, and Eucalyptus. I used food-grade gel food coloring (which left a tiny reminder of our adventure behind on my hands - perhaps rubber gloves for that part in the future?). And we substituted coconut oil for the vegetable oil since that’s what we have in the house. The texture of this dough is so soft and silky which I love. I was worried that the use of salt would make it gritty but it ended up so soft and smooth like the store-bought versions. 

 

My summer-born baby is an outdoorsy boy and I always struggle through the coldest parts of the winter to keep him inside. We venture out when we can, but it’s days like today that I’m so thankful for the Pinterest goodness of toddler activities and ideas galore. How fun it is to scroll through my board together and select an activity for the day. 

What type of winter day activities are filling your days? We’d love to hear about how you are spending your cold, winter days and if you are using Pinterest for ideas. Tell us about them in the comments below.

Meg Brothers is an artist, photographer, mama, and dreamer. She loves cooking, tattoos, and sporadic dance parties in the kitchen. She prefers dark chocolate, black coffee, and flip flops when weather permits. She is a lover of Pinterest and truly believes in integrating ideas and inspiration - big or small - into normal life. Meg lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband, Dustin and son, Julian. Meg writes about photography, family, and creative inspiration at megbrothers.com. Find her on Pinterest here and on Twitter here. 

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Note from Liz: Over here in my corner, I'm trying to "use Pinterest for good." I really see it as a community of people trying to see the beauty and possibility in their lives. I'm adding a few new features here on my blog inspired by or directly about Pinterest as a way to invite others to look for this beauty within a social media community. Connect with me on Pinterest here. Read other "Pinned it. Did it." columns here.