Stress Relief--Crafty Style

I've been trying to think of some things to put in the kids' church bags that are quiet and new. You know, things that are novel that they only see on that day. I had some old homemade play dough that was just languishing in a plastic bag. I decided to make some stress balls. Here is my stress ball tutorial.

They took about three minutes to make and I had all the supplies on hand. This was a great craft to do with Eva. She could help me with just about everything. Here is what we did:

Gather your supplies
We used some old homemade playdough, 3 balloons, and some safety scissors. Other items you could use to fill your stress balls could be cornstarch or birdseed.

Depending on the size of ball you want and the size of your balloon, roll off a piece of dough. For our first try I made a ball about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.

Snip off the top of a balloon and then shove the dough inside.
For this first step it is easier to leave a bit of the neck of the balloon. It will get covered up. In the next step.

I next cut the tip off of a pink balloon and covered the white ball completely making sure the opening of the white balloon was at the bottom of the pink balloon.

I used a red balloon for the outside. We cut the opening closer to the body of the balloon. You'll be able to see a bit of the pink balloon through the hole but you could certainly use this to your advantage and snip little holes all over the red balloon to make dots.

You can repeat these steps as many times as you like but we found that three balloons was enough to make a sturdy, yet pliable stress ball.

We made the second ball a little smaller so it would be easier for Eva to handle in her tiny hands.
I think later I might try to make one with some heart shaped balloons to see how those turn out.
Happy crafting!

Stress Relief--Crafty Style

http://craftyconservative.blogspot.com/2008/01/stress-relief-crafty-style.html