Day 62: My Picasso

Last night was not a good night in the least. Samantha has decided that not only does she not need an afternoon nap anymore, but that she also doesn't need to sleep at night. So, needless to say after very few hours of sleep, Samantha and I were not going anywhere today. So, we stayed in and played and crafted.

After Samantha awoke from a rather difficult morning nap, I decided to try something new with her. I had seen this craft on Pinterest awhile ago and had been waiting for the perfect time to try it out. Simply tape letters onto a canvas using painters tape and let your baby finger paint over top! Once dried, peel off the tape and your word is revealed! Genius and so cute! I really wanted to do "Samantha", but 8 letters and a curvy S proved to be too much for this momma to handle. Especially  while Samantha crawled around my legs and insisted on helping me.

Now, I just had to think about the what paint to use. All of her footprint crafts have been acrylic paint, but since everything goes into Samantha's mouth, and didn't feel like a trip to the ER today, I decided to make her some safe edible baby paint. I looked at a few recipes and then sort of just created my own from what I had seen. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. The hardest part was trying to cook in the kitchen all while Samantha climbed and twirled on my jungle gym legs!

Edible Baby Paint

1 1/2 Cups Flour

2 Cups Water

Food Coloring

Favorite Flavoring

Simple mix the flour and water together over low/medium heat until mixture is thick, but still runny (about 5 minutes). Let cool and pour into small sealable containers. Add food coloring, mix really well and let your baby go crazy! Some recipes suggested adding a bit of sugar to the mixture, but I opted to add some peppermint extract instead. (Please remember when adding something new to your baby's diet, such as spices or flavoring, to slowly introduce it and to watch your baby carefully for any type of allergic reaction)

As the paint cooled, I stripped Samantha down to her onesie and got the baby wipes and paint area ready. Since we don't have a designated craft room, I taped a garbage bag to the floor to try and keep the paint off the floor, though, it hardly contained the mess that is Samantha. I think next time, I'll throw her in the bathtub with a little bit of soapy water and let her paint the sides of the tub in her birthday suit! Or even better, wait until the weather is nice and let her go wild outside in the grass. Not that the clean up wasn't easy, but that would be even easier! Just hose her down and we're good to go!

When I put the paint in front of Samantha, she didn't quite know what to think. She looked at me...looked at the paint...looked at me...looked at the paint...and then just as I thought, the first thing she did was eat a big mouthful of finger paint! 

After I showed her what to do, she had a lot of fun making a big Picasso mess! She loved the feel of the paint between her fingers and it ended up everywhere! In her mouth, in her hair, on her legs...and of course on me! 

It was a fun afternoon, and I can't wait to find my next craft or experiment to do with her. Who knows, maybe day 100 of 99 Days of Laughter will become a fun DIY craft blog...but for now I'm just hoping day 63 has a little more sleep in it!