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Give your preschool child a head start for school.

One great craft your children can accomplish especially for Grandma on Mother’s Day is a potpourri pie. Its pretty east to do but will need some supervision from you if your children are younger.

What You’ll Need

* 1 C flour
* 1 C salt
* Water to moisten the dough
* Non stick cooking spray
* Rolling pin
* Pastry cutter
* Scented potpourri
* Potpourri oil
* Latex gloves
* Small pie pans
* Clear sealant
* Paint brush

Instructions

Picking out the perfect scent is the hardest part of this project. Take your child to the craft store or local department store and find just the right potpourri for the pie. If the potpourri doesn’t seem to be well scented or if you would like to add a scent, you can purchase potpourri oil to add.

Place the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. The kids will love doing this because they can use their hands to mix the two together. Once it is combined well begin to add water one tablespoon at a time. Let the kids mix it together to create the dough. Add water as necessary until you have a dough that is easy to handle but not sticky. Be sure to add it just one tablespoon at a time.

Once the dough is workable have the children spread it out on a flat surface. It should be as thick as regular pie crust dough. Use the pastry cutter to cut out a circle the size of the bottom of the pie pan. For the children just place the pie pan on the dough and cut around it. Spray the bottom of the pie pan with the cooking spray and place the circle of dough in the bottom of the pan. Bake in the oven on 250 degrees for about 30 minutes.
Remove and allow to cool to room temperature.

While the bottom crust is baking and cooling take the remaining dough and roll it out flat again. Cut strips to lace over the top. Once the bottom crust has cooled place the potpourri into the pie tin. If you use the oil place the potpourri in a bowl first. Make sure the children wear the latex gloves before they add a few drops of the oil. Then toss to be sure the oil goes all the way through the potpourri.

Once you have the potpourri in the pie, lace the strips of dough across the top of the pie. Do this as you would any pie with a lattice top crisscrossing them. Press the ends into the pie plate to seal. Let the pie set out over night for the top dough to harden. Once the dough has hardened let the kids use the paint brush to brush the top with the clear sealant to complete the pie.

Submitted by Nicole