Ingredients:
2 cups water
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
4 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 tablespoons cooking oil such as Canola
Red food coloring
Mint or peppermint extract
Glitter
Cupcake liners

Directions:

1. Mix the flour, salt and cream of tartar in a medium saucepan.
2. Add water, oil and mix well. It will be lumpy.
3. Cook over medium-low heat for approximately five minutes. Stir frequently. It will become sticky.
4. Keep cooking until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pot.
5. Put ball of dough into a bowl and cover with a wet towel. Let the dough cool for a minute or two.
6. Knead dough until it is smooth.
7. Divide the dough into two balls. One will remain white. Add several drops of mint extract and about 2 tablespoons of silver glitter to this one. Knead well to disperse the glitter.
8. Add several drops of red food coloring to the second ball. Add about 2 tablespoons of red glitter. Knead well.

Invite your kids to raid the kitchen utensil drawer and have fun playing with the dough. Our favorites: the garlic press and melon baller.

Store in a Tupperware container for several weeks.

Directions For Goodie Bags:
Use about ¼ cup of the red dough and roll into a ball. Repeat with the white dough. The recipe above made 14 balls (seven of each color), which is not quite enough for a typical class so you will want to double the recipe. You can also stretch the dough by rolling it out and using a cookie cutter to make heart shapes. Place each piece in a cupcake liner, place inside a zip lock bag and decorate with a tag.

Michele Aucello and her husband Kevin live in Maunalani Heights with their children, Isabella (8) and Luca (6), nine chickens and the occasional elf and leprechaun. You can reach Michele via email, Facebook, or via her personal blog, Leprechaun Tricks. You can also follow her on Pinterest, where (shhhhh!) she gets many of her ideas.