PEEPS Air Dry Clay Ornaments
Salt dough is a classic for just about any holiday, but last Easter I wanted to do something a bit more fun and unique. This cool experiment provided us with a stretchy PEEPS play dough and a pretty homemade air dry clay that we used to make sweet Easter decorations.
I didn’t really know how this recipe was going to turn out – I made this no-cook marshmallow play dough years ago and had some peeps leftover from making Peeps Cupcakes for my friend Stephanie’s blog so I thought it would be fun to revisit marshmallow play dough.
However, we were out of flour after making hot chocolate cloud dough so we tried using corn starch instead and while it resulted in the same stretchy play dough texture it had the added bonus of letting the dough dry out to a nice porcelain-style finish!
This recipe is super-easy and completely taste-safe. The finished ornaments are tough enough that 2 year olds can handle them but will break if dropped on the ground. They smelled great and had a natural glossy finish without any extra effort on our parts.
You could definitely paint your air dried peeps clay ornaments, make them into a bunting banner, or hang them from an old-fashioned Easter tree.
This Easter clay craft is one of the 32 recipes, crafts and decor ideas included in our free Easter Planning Ebook available to our e-mail subscribers:
Materials to Make Peeps Air Dry Clay
- 5 peeps (approximately 10 regular-sized marshmallows)
- 1/4 cup corn starch
- Microwave-safe bowl
- Spatula
- Measuring cups
- Straw
- Cookie sheet
- Cookie cutters
- Tinfoil
- Baking twine or string/ribbon
Tip: you can use regular marshmallows and food dye if you don’t already have peeps lying around.
How to Make Peeps Clay Ornaments
Place the marshmallows and cornstarch in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 25 seconds. (In retrospect, heating just the marshmallows and then adding in the cornstarch likely would have been fine.)
Stir, and reheat as necessary until the marshmallows are completely melted.
Knead the cornstarch into the marshmallows until the dough is no longer sticky. It will be firm like clay and stretchy.
Let the kids play with it – stretching, squishing and tasting – as long as you’d like. It’s a great way for them to build up their hand muscles, which comes in handy for developing those writing muscles.
When the kids have had their fill of playing with the marshmallow clay, you can keep it for a day in a container or start making the air dry ornaments right away.
Provide the kids with an assortment of cookie cutters and have them cut out their favorite shapes for their ornaments.
Place the ornaments on a tinfoil-lined cookie sheet and if you want to hang the ornaments later, use a straw to cut out holes in the ornaments.
Let dry overnight.
The next day, the ornaments will be hard and glossy. They should come off of the tinfoil easily
If hanging your ornaments, thread some baking twine through the holes and you’re done!
You could also attach these pretty clay ornaments to a picture frame or other special art piece. I kept a few and they have lasted for an entire year with no mold issues or consistency changes.
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PEEPS Air Dry Clay Ornaments
Ingredients
- 5 peeps (approximately 10 regular-sized marshmallows)
- 1/4 cup corn starch
- Microwave-safe bowl
- Spatula
- Measuring cups
- Straw
- Cookie sheet
- Cookie cutters
- Tinfoil
- Baking twine or string/ribbon
Instructions
- Place the marshmallows and cornstarch in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 25 seconds. (In retrospect, heating just the marshmallows and then adding in the cornstarch likely would have been fine.)
- Stir, and reheat as necessary until the marshmallows are completely melted.
- Knead the cornstarch into the marshmallows until the dough is no longer sticky. It will be firm like clay and stretchy.
- Let the kids play with it - stretching, squishing and tasting - as long as you'd like. It's a great way for them to build up their hand muscles, which comes in handy for developing those writing muscles.
- When the kids have had their fill of playing with the marshmallow clay, you can keep it for a day in a container or start making the air dry ornaments right away.
- Provide the kids with an assortment of cookie cutters and have them cut out their favorite shapes for their ornaments.
- Place the ornaments on a tinfoil-lined cookie sheet and if you want to hang the ornaments later, use a straw to cut out holes in the ornaments.
- Let dry overnight.
- The next day, the ornaments will be hard and glossy. They should come off of the tinfoil easily
- If hanging your ornaments, thread some baking twine through the holes and you're done!
- You could also attach these pretty clay ornaments to a picture frame or other special art piece. I kept a few and they have lasted for an entire year with no mold issues or consistency changes.
This marshmallow play dough was so much fun to make and the ornaments turned out beautifully. I hope you give it a try with your kids – its one of the best uses I can think of for leftover Peeps!
For more fun & edible kids’ activities check out our DIY Agate Candy Slices or our 2-ingredient Candy Slime.
