Homemade starch and homemade glue

Right before school starts there are usually great sales on all kinds of school supplies.  If you time it right you can buy everything you will need for the entire year.  Unfortunately for us we were out of town right before school started last year and didn't stock up on anything.  In a household like mine that really wasn't a big deal.  We have lots of paper, pencils, pens, notebooks, and other supplies the grand kids need for school.  What I didn't anticipate was how much tape and glue they go through.  "Can I use the tape?" really means 1/2 the roll will be gone when I'm done taping this one little item.  I think they eat it or something.  We still have tape left, I ration it.  "You need tape?" Here's three inches worth. 

Glue on the other hand is something that we did run out of.  First they used my white glue, then they got to the wood glue, then the gorilla glue.  I bought more wood glue and gorilla glue and hid them from their little hands.  White glue?  That's something that can be made at home.  I put it into the old glue squeeze bottles.  They don't know the difference and when I see the bottles getting low I just whip up a batch.  It's easy to make and you can whip it up in a few minutes if you need some and didn't realize you were out.  Some people keep it in the refrigerator to make it last longer.  It doesn't last very long around here and instead of it going bad, just make less.

I have two recipes.  The first uses liquid starch, the second doesn't.  I like the one that uses the starch better.  You don't use starch in your laundry anymore?  Never fear.  You can make liquid starch.  It's much cheaper making it than buying it anyway!   
Liquid Starch:
1 teaspoon corn starch or potato starch
1 tablespoon cool water
1/2 cup water
Mix the corn starch with the tablespoon of water.  Boil the 1/2 cup water.  Stir in the starch/water mixture.  Boil for a bit until it starts to thicken.  Let cool.

Glue:
1 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup liquid starch that you just made
1 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon vinegar
Mix the flour and sugar together in a pot.  Add the water and mix until creamy.  Heat, stir continuously until it starts to boil.  Add the starch and vinegar and boil another minute.  Don't over cook it!  Don't let it start to clump, just start to thicken. Take off the heat and cool.  It may be thin but will thicken up as it cools. 

Second glue recipe:
Same as the first but don't use the liquid starch. 

Easy recipes and it won't hurt the kids if they eat it, nor will it hurt your skin or your clothes if you get glue on you.