Homemade Sidewalk Chalk

I think it was on The Crafty Crow that I recently saw the link to this post on how to make your own sidewalk chalk. I didn't realize it was so easy! It is simply Plaster of Paris mixed with water and tempera paint. This would be a great crafty thing to do with school-aged kids but since I don't have any of those my excuse to try it out was Connor's upcoming birthday. Using sidewalk chalk helps build little hand muscles after all, and what 3-year old doesn't enjoy creating masterpieces on their driveway?

Here is what you need...

-toilet paper or paper towel tubes (basically a mold-- next time I'm going to Ikea for some of their silicone ice trays, they always have cute shapes!)
-scissors
-duct tape
-wax paper
-3/4 cup warm water
-small bucket or disposable container
-1 1/2 cups Plaster of Paris
-2-3 tablespoons tempera paint
1. Cover one end of each tube with duct tape. Cut as many pieces of wax paper as you have tubes. Each piece should be as long as the tube and about 4 inches wide. Roll up each piece of wax paper and slip it into the tube. (Note: My wax paper kept getting crunched up inside the tube as the Plaster of Paris mixture was pretty thick. Next time I would probably tape it to the outside of the tube to prevent it from slipping down inside.)

2. Pour the water into the bowl or bucket. Sprinkle the Plaster of Paris over the water and stir the mixture thoroughly. Mix in the paint. (I started with yellow and divided it in half to stir some red into one half in order to make orange, then I did a batch of green and a batch of red.)

3. Place each tube tape side down on a level surface. Pour the wet plaster mixture into the tubes. Lightly tap the sides of each tube to release air bubbles, then set the plaster-filled tube aside to harden for a few days. (Mine was dry over night.) Once they are dry, peel off the tubes and wax paper. Your chalk is ready for action!
To present the chalk as a gift, I wrapped the tubes back up in wax paper, secured with double-sided tape, and colored dots on the paper in the same color as the chalk. I placed them in a strawberry basket (the small green ones they come in at the store) and tied multi-colored polka dot ribbon around the basket. No wrapping paper to have to buy, only to have it thrown in the trash. Who knows, maybe Connor will be the next Picasso? And to think, it all started with some homemade sidewalk chalk. :)