Sawdust Clay: Reprise

Last month, we tried out a new recipe: Sawdust Clay.  After the project was completed, my kiddo's dried flower sat around for quite some time, waiting to be sanded and painted.  We finally finished it today!!  We gathered up our acrylic paint, a brush and some sandpaper and got started.

I was a bit nervous about the sanding portion, having nightmarish visions of the flower falling to bits the minute the sandpaper touched it.  I was pleasantly surprised by the results.

I love his face, he was a bit nervous too, he asked why pieces of his flower were falling off and then when he decided to sand his 'haystack' and assigned me to his flower, he accused me of breaking it.  After a few minutes, though, he realized what was happening and then summarily assigned me the remainder of the sanding work.  Delegating already - manager material for sure!

Once sanded, the flower was ready to paint.  I know we could have gotten it even smoother, but the results will vary depending on the age, dexterity and patience level of the child.  I think this material would be great for projects for elementary school kiddos.

We used some leftover acrylic paint we got in a craft kit.  No directions given here, he just painted away and then worked a bit on his 'haystack'.

Once he declared it complete, we left it to dry. 

Monkey was a bit confused about what exactly he had just made.  "Can we eat it now?"  Hmmmm, no, that wouldn't be too tasty.  "Is it a decoration?"  Well, kind of, it IS made of wood, but that's just like our blocks and cars and other toys, so I guess you could really use it any way you like.  "Oh, I'm going to use my haystack when I build a farm for my animals."  Sounds like a plan, little man!!