Ayan and Carlo’s Beads for Somalia Project (see previous post) got a huge boost today when the lovely Jessie of Dalhousie Parent’s Daycare agreed to  help the kids paint their beads!  She jumped right in and organized about 30 preschoolers and a dozen kindies to paint, paint, paint!  thanks Jessie, this project has taken a great leap because of you!

So…before Jessie and her crew of helpers could paint, Ayan and Carlo had to step up and make a ton of beads…210 to be exact!  here’s how it was done…

first we made the dough for the beads using a very old school recipe that i’m pretty sure my mom made more than a thousand times (i had a very crafty mom).

the great thing about the dough is that it’s easy to make and although it looks and feels like cookie dough, it tastes like salt, so you don’t have to spend precious mommy and me time saying “please get that out of your mouth”!  if any of you mommies out there are looking for a fun end of summer activity to do with your kiddies, here’s the recipe:

1 1/4 c white flour,  1 1/4 c salt,  3/4 c warm water, 1 tbsp vegetable oil

just soften the salt into the warm water, add the flour and oil and have the kids mix…easy.

then we made shapes, poked holes in them with a bbq skewer and put them in the oven, low heat for about 1.5 hours, and presto!  we had the lovely, wonderfully handmade beads you see in my final pic! it will be great to see what they look like after they are painted…stay tuned!

for those of you who are reading about our project for the first time, all of these beads will be sold by donation at workshop and flock.  all funds raised (we are hoping to raise $1000) will go to relief efforts in somalia.  congrats to the young ones who came up with this great idea, we’re so proud to help you turn your ideas into action!