Li'l Moldies

Happy Hallowe’en to my Neighbours!

Children in craft groups, at children’s fairs and at family fests have spent hours of time painting Li’l Moldies. This simple craft item is made from Plaster of Paris molded in chocolate molds. Easy to do; a little hard on the candy molds!

In fact, I have made thousands and thousands of these craft items over a span of 20 years. Children find them a favourite, lots of fun to paint. I’ve had a roomful of 40 or 50 children painting them and it has been so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I love to encourage children’s creativity and hope your children will enjoy painting these Li’l Moldies.

Here are some tips:

1. For a really finished product, sand the edge with fine sandpaper. Emery boards have been used, too.

2. Colour them, using box paints, craft paints, felt pens, nail polish or even food colouring.

3. For a soft colour, dip them in diluted food colouring just as you would for Easter eggs.

4. To give highlights when there are raised edges, paint, then quickly wipe off surface paint with a paper towel or tissue. You can even rinse them off with water after painting.

5. For detail work, like adding design or writing your name, use felt pens. Warning: the felt pens do dry up quickly.

6. Shine them. After paint is dry, add a shine with clear nail polish.

7. To any finished Li’l Moldie add googly eyes, pompoms, glitter, tiny silk flowers, ribbon roses, beads, lace, alphabet macaroni or anything else you can think of to use. Remember to be very careful with small children. They’re usually content just to paint them.

8. To finish the back, use felt, fabric, cardboard or even silk flowers. Gluing a finished Li’l Moldie onto a length of 1 or 2 inch inch wide ribbon turns it into a bookmark! Sandwich a ribbon or cord between the Li’l Moldie and the backing and you have a necklace.

9. Let your imagination go! Use Li’l Moldies to make necklaces, bookmarks, fridge magnets, greeting cards, pictures. Use them to decorate picture frames, boxes and juice can pencil holders.

10. To avoid a mess while painting, use an ice cream bucket lid to paint on.

Warning: Always provide adult supervision when doing any crafts with young children.

I hope you enjoy them. Happy crafting to you and your family!