A Rock Collection for Dad

When I asked The Princess what she wanted to make for her dad for Father's Day, she said a rock collection. Offering up a rock collection means true love when it comes from her. She loves rocks in every shape and color. If you happen to live in my neighborhood, please accept my apology for any missing rocks around your mailbox. It's possible they are in my garage in a bucket. If you can identify your rock, you can have it back. No problem. But, The Princess will give you the "why did you just break my little bitty heart" look. Be prepared.

Anyway, I started looking for crafts we could make that would incorporate rocks plus be a semi functional gift. This post from Crafts by Amanda was perfect.

What you'll need

1/4 cup salt
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup water
bowl
cookie sheet
1/2 cup pea gravel (we pulled out the smaller rocks from our landscaping rocks)

The Princess was able to do this craft for the most part from start to finish. I did help her with the spelling and perfected the shape a bit, but other than that she was able to make the gift on her own.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Combine the flour, salt, and water in a bowl. I didn't have any problems with the dough coming together, but the original post says to add small amounts of flour if it is too sticky, being careful not to add too much as it will cause the finished project to crack.

Roll a portion of the dough into a ball and then flatten to 1/2 inch thickness while creating your shape. (We had shapes anywhere from 1/4 of and inch to a little over 1/2 and inch. They all turned out just fine). The Princess wanted to make a heart, so we shaped a large one and then I let her use cookie cutters to cut out from the remaining dough for her grandpas. With the large heart I wrote with a toothpick and then she placed the rocks on top. I then pressed them into the dough a little further for her so that hey wouldn't fall off. She went to town on the other shapes and added rocks to them as well.

Bake for 2 to 2.5 hours. Ours took 2.5 to feel totally dry. Let cool completely before removing it from the pan.

I put the girls footprints on the back of the large one and then sprayed it with a clear sealant.

I have no doubt my husband will love this gift. If not, he'll get "the look".

Bryn