Okay, so we’ve established that painting your own crosswalks is a terrible idea, but there are other ways to decorate your driveway and the street in front of your home. If you’re a kid, anyway. Or very eccentric. Chalk can get expensive, though, especially if your kid shares with the entire neighborhood. Is there a cheaper way to get it? Yes, there is.

This recipe for homemade sidewalk chalk, shared by Trent at The Simple Dollar, isn’t just a way to build up a stockpile of chalk in the colors that you use most: it’s also a way to keep kids busy when the weather is bad and they can’t go out and play. Or draw with chalk.

You need a few art supplies, and some items that you probably have around the house already. If you don’t want to make cylindrical tube chalk, you can make it the shape of any three-dimensional mold that you happen to have. Ice cube chalk? Egg chalk? Sure! Bundt cake chalk? Probably not such a good idea.

The supplies you’ll need:

• Tempera paint
• plaster of Paris
• wax paper
• wrapping paper tubes or paper towel tubes or toilet paper tubes
• sandwich baggies
• liquid dishwashing soap
• masking tape
• water

How do you actually make the chalk? You’ll have to click through to get those instructions. Trent estimates that he spent about $18 on chalk supplies. It’s also possible to make chalk out of eggshells, if you have a source for large amounts of eggshells.

Making Your Own Sidewalk Chalk [The Simple Dollar]

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