Make Your Own Sidewalk/Pavement Chalk

Have you seen the adorable shaped chalks they have on Etsy? Well, I have. And I may or may not totally covet them.

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This led me to wonder - could you make your own chalk? The shops on Etsy do, so maybe there was a recipe we could follow here at home! I googled and found this recipe from Poppy Haus, which looked lovely - but you know how much I love vibrant colors. Well, and Colorations Liquid Watercolors.

So you know I had to try to develop my own recipe! I tried it, and THIS is what we got:

Sorry there are so many photos...

But I was pretty excited...

With how well they turned out.

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And how cute are the heart shapes? We used the same silicone heart mold that we did to make S's Valentine's Crayons for Valentine's Day earlier this year.

We had so much fun making bright, vibrant chalk drawings!

S made a cat.

One last shot of the awesome chalk!!!

OK, so now for the recipe. Here's the thing - it will vary depending on how bright you want your chalk and what mold you are using, etc, etc. So I figured I would explain it by photos rather than measurements. First, pick whatever silicone mold you want. You might be able to use molds other than silicone, but I don't know - silicone is the only kind I tried. Second step, fill just the bottom of the mold with Colorations Liquid Watercolors (What are Liquid Watercolors?) and add the same amount of water. You should have about this much liquid:

Next add scoop after scoop of Plaster of Paris. We use craft plaster (the very same that we use to make our Dinosaur Fossils) that we get in a small bucket from our local craft store, Michaels. With a coupon, I can get the buckets for $2. It took nearly a whole bucket to make our nine heart chalks. You want to keep adding plaster until it thickens up to the point that it looks like this:

Once the mixture is that thick (stirrable, but not watery), leave it to dry. If your chalk mixture is on the dry side, it will dry in an hour or two; if your mix is more watery, it will just take more time to dry. It's a pretty forgiving recipe - I never measured for any of the nine chalks, just did it all by eye and they turned out fine. :)

And finally, I know some of you are wondering if you can substitute food coloring for Colorations Liquid Watercolors. My answer is that I think it should be fine - I just am not 100% sure it won't leave a faint stain on your sidewalk/driveway, so if you are worried about that, I wouldn't do it. I left our chalk art for several days, then gave it a quick rinse. After it dried it looked like this:

You can see some faint color from the orange and blue chalk we used. Two days later, I couldn't find any, but if you have a light driveway and are very concerned about any potential staining, you might not want to try this. (For reference, when we use store bought chalk, we also see some residue for a few days - maybe it's the texture in our driveway?).

If you liked this chalk, you may also enjoy our Scented Sidewalk Paint for more outdoor summer fun!

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All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children. As your child's parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family. I always encourage contacting your child's pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision. Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies). Observe caution and safety at all times. The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.

Comments

Dyan RobsonJuly 8, 2013 at 8:43 AM
Beautiful chalk, Asia!
PlainVanillaMomJuly 8, 2013 at 7:23 PM
These look awesome! I have to try this :) Pinning :)
AnonymousJuly 9, 2013 at 6:07 AM
this looks wonderful - a must try! many thanks for the lovely tutorial - holly
AnonymousJuly 9, 2013 at 9:29 PM
It is always so exciting to read your posts, and this was as amazing as I was hoping for! So fun...we will be trying this for sure!
AnonymousJuly 19, 2013 at 8:21 PM
I love how creativity begets creativity. This post gave me an idea, which I tried out and succeeded with -- hooray! Here's what you inspired me to try: http://preschoolinspirations.com/2013/07/20/diy-sea-stars/
Katie
CristinaJuly 22, 2013 at 11:53 AM
Love this :) Thanks so much for the tutorial!
Asia CitroJuly 22, 2013 at 1:19 PM
Yay! So glad you love it, Cristina and hope you all have as much fun with your custom chalk as we have! :)
IlenMarch 8, 2014 at 11:59 AM
I love your ideas but if I can't. Find the plaster Paris what can I use?
What a Wonderful WorldFebruary 1, 2016 at 12:41 PM
Has anyone tried it with food coloring?! I'll be doing that toda.. Hope the colors are just as vibrant! Thanks so much!

Make Your Own Sidewalk/Pavement Chalk

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