In the midst of this year's very dry summer Jude and I took some time to celebrate clouds, a sight long missing from our skyline. And now that fall has finally arrived in Northern California, and with it much needed rain clouds, I thought it was high time I shared these little projects.
One day at the library we picked up Cloud Boy. Cloud Boy
is an adorably illustrated story about a cloud boy a who, in the hopes of making others happy, makes beautiful shapes in the clouds. After reading it, I couldn't resist giving cloud dough a try.
I'm pretty sure I'm the last mommy blogger to get on the cloud dough train, but I thought I'd share my experience anyway. We made ours by combining 8 cups of flour with 1 cup of canola oil in a large plastic bin. I chose canola oil instead of baby oil because I wanted it to be edible (in case of any tasting) and because it was cheaper.
The feel was soft and silky. The mess was abundant. I highly recommend the outdoors for this project. We played around with the texture by adding more oil and we actually liked it best with about 1 1/2 cups of oil per 8 cups of flour. Overall, it was a really fun experience and we saved our clouds in a big ziploc bag for later play.
That same day (I must have really been missing clouds) I ticked off one of my 30 Before Thirty and painted Bob Ross clouds. Or should I say, I attempted to paint Bob Ross clouds. He sure makes it look easy! And while none of my canvases came out as realistic as the master's, I had a lot of fun trying. Actually, I liked them enough to hang them in my bedroom, a happy little reminder of the day we celebrated the clouds.
Looking for more cloud celebration?
For the web's funniest cloud dough post: Visit Critters and Crayons
Next up on our cloud project list: Painting the Sky with DIY Cloud Paint
In case you need to smile: Bob Ross Remixed Happy Little Clouds
Here's to happy little clouds!