In preparation of my nephew's visit I wanted to get some art activities together for him. As a former art teacher, I have made the DIY homemade dough before. However, I never used the recipe where you have to cook it. I though I would give it a try. You can get all the ingredients at the grocery store, even the alum. I bought my alum at a discount store many years ago for .50. However, the price at my current grocery store was $4. That's way too much for such a small amount. I also bought wheat flour for this recipe. Next time I am going to try white flour because the wheat affect the color and texture, as you will see.
I choose to use a Kool-Aide recipe as I've been stockpiling it lately. There are a lot of other art projects that I want to use it for. Remember, you can also use the lemonade flavors as an emergency dishwasher detergent for the citric acid.
Basically, you boil the water, salt, and Kool-Aid together in a pot.
Stir in the oil and alum powder. After you bring this to a boil, remove from heat. Dump in all of the flour and stir.
Keep stirring until the dough stops sticking to the side. I skipped this step due to time but you should knead the dough with a little flour to prevent sticking.
Store the dough in a recycled icing can or another sealed container in the frig until ready to use.
I mixed two different flavors together. I would recommend using the Kool-Aide because the fruit punch smell mixture was awful. Plus, I think I needed more than two packets because I did not get a great color.
Okay, this dough looks like raw meat and smells like a fruit punch with cheap rum in it. I should have kneaded the dough more, used white flour, and Kool-Aide brand drink mix. I did try to add some more drink mix after cooking but it just got over my hands. I don't know if my nephew will even want to play with this pink sludge ground beef, I mean DIY playdough. There is a reason this blog is called learning curve. For me to do something well, it takes time and effort and practice. I might even try a different recipe next time. I don't want to give up.
