Oh my goodness… I will never buy play dough again! Last night, as I was watching The Biggest Loser and juicing some veggies, I decided to try my hand at making play dough. My daughter has really gotten into playing with play dough and I had purchased some Happy Fun Dough from my store that we had been playing with, but I think it has reached its peak. Rather than spend more money on dough, I decided I would see how easy it was to make myself - and let me tell you - it is easier than opening a tin of prepared dough!

All you need is flour, water, salt, oil and cream of tarter:

3 cups flour
1.5 cups salt
6 tsp cream of tarter
3 tbsp oil
3 cups water

Just dissolve the salt in the water, add the rest of the ingredients, and 20 seconds later you have the most awesome play dough. It is smooth and pliable and smells natural. I used the juice from Collard Greens, Beets, Carrots and Blackberries as food coloring and it was amazing. The colors were very strong and are completely natural.

If you are going to do different colors, I recommend dividing the recipe into thirds and coloring it that way. I just added some juice to the water while I was dissolving the salt and voila… beautiful dough!

For those of you with gluten allergies, simply use rice flour. Also, I used Olive Oil to ensure that it was entirely all natural. You can use Canola Oil, but that is more industrial than natural.

Bonuses of making your own:

• Cheaper - you probably already have what it takes to make it
• Fun - your kids can help color, mix, knead and mold
• Natural - 100% natural and biodegradable
• Long-lasting - if it starts to dry out, simply add a drop or two of olive oil and it will come back to life
• Great texture & smell

***even though it is all natural, it is not meant to be eaten.