Making A Mess With Slime

Source: ourbestbites.com via Kate on Pinterest

Sometimes I have to let go of my internal control freak and let my kids get good and messy.  My daughter has been begging me to do a science experiment, something fun and hands on, so I decided to try making slime with the kids today.  4 ingredients, easy to follow steps.

All the ingredients can be found at grocery stores, Target, Walmart... anywhere that sells laundry detergent is likely to have Borax.  If you already make your own detergents, then you've got it on hand.
I couldn't find clear glue while I was at the store, so we used the cheapest kids glue we could find (.34 cents!).

At first I thought I had a major Pinterest failure.  My "slime" was slimy alright... and soupy.  VERY soupy.  However, after many many minutes of mixing by hand, my kids were able to make it more like the solid substance that was pictured on the pinned post.  Of course, my kids had a blast no matter what it was like!

I put the slime in an airtight container and am anxious to find out how long the slime lasts before I have to make a new batch.  Regardless, the kiddos want different colored slime, so we will surely be making this again!

Chalkboard Paint

Chalkboard Paint.  You know you want to try it!! So many pins out there about chalkboard paint.  You can put it on ANYTHING! It's fun! And it is a craft for YOU, not just kids.

Source: abeautifulmess.typepad.com via Kate on Pinterest

And good news, super easy.   Warning... you only need about 1 TBSP non-sanded grout or less to make a small batch (which goes a long way).  However, the smallest box I could find was huge and will probably last me a lifetime and then some.  I will be sharing my wealth of non-sanded grout!

I saw one website, unfortunately forgot to pin, that suggested you mix the grout with a tiny bit of water before adding the paint.  I did this, and I'm glad, it wasn't clumpy at all! If you do this, just make sure to use the TINIEST amount, I can imagine using too much would make your paint too runny.

I used 2 2oz containers of paint from Joanns (89 cents each!). You can use ANY color you like, I decided to go with classic black. I wasn't feeling too adventuresome.  Within seconds, my batch was ready!  I have lots left over, so next time I will only make 1 container.  Here are my newly painted jars (counting down daddy's time away from us), and wine glasses!

So many fun things to do with your paint!

Source: etsy.com via Kate on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Kate on Pinterest

Source: inspirationforhome.blogspot.com via Kate on Pinterest

(So doing this last pin when the kids are old enough to play scrabble!)