Edible Sensory Bead Fun!

Over Spring Break, I finally got to do a couple of activities that I'd been wanting to try for awhile.  The first thing we tried were sensory beads.  I'd seen lots of activities using sensory beads, but they all involved some not-so-great chemicals or Borax.  I wanted some that weren't super icky if they were accidentally swallowed.  (Seriously it's like fighting an octopus sometimes.) 

Here's the recipe I followed, but I changed a few things.  First of all, I used food coloring that's natural.  I'd been wanting to get some for awhile, but this gave me an excuse for getting some already.  I got the pearls they recommended, but they are NOT as bright as they acted like.  They said they're bright already, but they're not really.  They have a few that stand out as a particular color, but most of them are just cloudy clear.

I followed their directions for boiling the beads and for soaking them in dye.  I think the colors turned out pretty nicely.

Since I didn't use gel food coloring, I can't say how the color would last on the beads.  With the coloring I used, they lasted pretty well throughout our play.  You can see that the water got cloudy as the dye washed off some.  Their article said that their beads stayed for a couple of days, but ours did not.  I saved them in a little water like they said, but they basically turned a muddled color as they sat.
For the overall cost for this, though, I don't care that they didn't last more than the one play session.  He had a great time with them!  They were so slippery and slimy that he concentrated a lot on trying to pick them up.  The container you see is the lid to a cupcake/cake carrier.  I really loved the little middle bit because he kept making a train of beads and pushing them through.  I definitely recommend getting creative with the container so that it adds to the play session.

Let me know if you try this and how your brain play goes!

Amazon Deal On IKEA Cups

Click on the link for the cups and then be sure to look to the right where it says "other deals on Amazon"... it's the first link there.  $5.85 for a set.  That means less than $1 a cup!!  Spend With Pennies has all the details!

http://www.spendwithpennies.com/set-of-6-ikea-kalas-bpa-free-tumblers/

How to Paint a File Cabinet

I read a whole bunch of pins on Pinterest before doing this, but I'm not linking any of them here.  Partially because they all said the same thing and partially because if you follow me on Pinterest, you can see all the pins I pinned and read them yourself as you come across them.

That being said, allow me to add one more tutorial on how to do this.

First and most importantly- this was SUPER EASY.  Like- way easy.

Supplies:
*spray paint (I pictured the kind I picked)
*one of those continuous hand things that keep the spray going...so much easier
*electric sander and sanding block (I'm sure you could do it all by hand if you needed)
*hot glue and glue gun
*dollar store frames
*file cabinet

Here is the super duper easy explanation.  I cleaned the entire thing.  I sanded the entire thing.  I recleaned the entire thing.  I hot glued the frames on.  I spray painted the cabinet (I went through almost 6 cans... I wanted it to be a solid coat.)  I was done.  :D  Simple enough, huh?

I really love the matte finish.  It looks more like furniture to me.