Easy Play Clay

Hi everyone!

First of all, I'm really sorry that I didn't post last week.  I completely forgot!  Anyway, I a tutorial for you guys this week that's great for little children.  Play clay!  Check back next week for more crafty tutorials and comment down below if you'd like to see some greeting cards, painted galaxy tutorial, or get organized!  Thanks for stopping by!! 

Ingredients

- 2 cups of sifted flour
- 1 cup of salt
- 6 teaspoons of alum (Alum acts as a preservative.  You don't need it, but it will stay longer if you include it.  If you don't, add extra flour.)
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- 1 cup of water
- food coloring (optional)

Directions 

1. Mix all materials together (except the food coloring) in a medium-sized bowl until they form a dough.

2. Carefully knead the food coloring into the clay.  Six drops of blue gave me a really pretty pastel green/sea foam blue.  (It doesn't really show up of camera though)

3. Store the play clay in a sealed bag or air tight container.  

Shortbread Cookies (Recipe 2)

Hi everyone!

As promised, we're making another type of shortbread cookies today!  I found this amazing recipe on Simply Bakings.  The link to the original recipe is HERE.  By the way, I halved Simply Baking's recipe. Oh, and I would show you a picture but they were gone before I thought of it, so here's the picture from her blog.  :)  Please comment if you want to see a tutorial on play clay and check back next week for my crafty fun!

Ingredients

1 stick butter (8 tbs), softened

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour

(Makes about 10 cookies)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 F.

2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy and gradually add flour until well combined.  Then refrigerate for 5 minutes.

3. Lightly flour work area and roll out cookie dough until your desired thickness. Cut out cookies and place on a cookie sheet.  Then poke holes with a fork.

4. Bake for 25 minutes.  Let cool and enjoy!

Shortbread Cookies (Recipe 1)

Hello everyone!
We're making cookies today!  Next week I'll be showing you how to make another recipe for shortbread cookies.  I've got this weeks recipe below.  These are really good and crumbly and are really fun to make too!  In our house, they were gone in just a few days!  I found this amazing recipe on the Comfort of Cooking website.  The link to the original recipe is HERE.  Make sure to comment and share and check back next week!
  

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
(makes approximately: 16 cookies)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two large baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add flour and continue to mix until mixture forms a soft dough. 
3. Form dough into a cohesive ball with your hands.
4. Roll dough 1/4-inch thick on a surface dusted with flour or powdered sugar with a well-dusted rolling pin. Cut into desired shape and place on sheets. Repeat as necessary.
5. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until cookies are pale golden brown. Let cool on baking sheets.  Enjoy!