Homemade Beads
The vividly colored dough yields uncommonly beautiful beads. Plan on making several batches of different colors.
What you will need:
1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup cornstarch
Tempera paint (fabric dye and food coloring also work well)
3/4 cup cold water
Toothpicks
Shoelace or fishing line
How to do it:
- Mix the baking soda and cornstarch together with your hands in a medium saucepan. Add the paint to the cold water, stir until dissolved, and pour into the saucepan. With a grown-up’s help, cook the dough over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until the mixture solidifies. Be careful not to overcook, or the dough will be too crumbly.
- When the dough cools, knead it until it is smooth and pliable. You are now ready to make beads! You can make the beads into free-form shapes with your hands, or roll snakes from the dough to cut with a knife.
- After the dough is shaped into a bead, poke a toothpick down the center to form a hole for stringing. If the holes are big enough, a shoelace is easiest for small hands to work with. Older children can make smaller holes and string the beads with fishing line.
Reprinted with permission from The Mudpies Activity Book: Recipes for Invention © 1994 by Nancy Blakey, Tricycle Press, P.O. Box 7123, Berkeley, Ca 94707.
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Originally Published: November 04, 2010