Homemade puffy paint
August 8th, 2008
I came across a really simple recipe for homemade puffy paint recently and thought it would be fun to give it a try. Annalie loves making anything in the kitchen that has to be stirred, and this was no exception. So we mixed equal parts flour, salt, and water in a bowl and added glitter because I couldn’t find the food coloring. Then I scraped it into one of my Pampered Chef icing bottles so we could use it.
Annalie had a bit of trouble with the accordion-style bottle, and I think the opening of the icing tip I used was a bit too small. So we resorted to the good old ziploc-with-the-corner-snipped-off trick, and that worked pretty well. Annalie squirted the paint onto the paper in globs, as is her usual style, and I was afraid it the paper wouldn’t hold up but it did.
The paint was quick to dry, probably because of the salt, and the thin lines I used were dry in a half-hour or so. Annalie’s paintings took longer because of the aforementioned globs, probably a couple of hours before we could hang them on the fridge.
Annalie really enjoyed the process of stirring the ingredients together. She loves squeezy paint, and I think she especially liked that I told her we had to use up all the paint. She has always used art supplies extravagantly, which I love about her. I was the kid who saved all her stickers for a mythical special occasion that usually never arose, while Annalie will use an entire sheet of stickers to decorate one homemade card. So using up the whole batch was no problem for her.
This was such a quick and easy craft that I am sure we will do it again, especially once we have food coloring on hand. However, I wasn’t blown away by it. It was just okay. And once the paint dries it is fragile and peels off the paper very easily, so you shouldn’t plan on saving these masterpieces forever. It’s just a fun, inexpensive way to occupy your kids for an hour or two when it’s too hot to play outside.
August 8th, 2008 at 6:31 am
I’ve never been a big fan of puffy paint, but I have never met a child that agreed with me. Remember when puffy paint on shirts was all the rage? God help us if that comes back in style again.
August 8th, 2008 at 7:31 am
I was always a sticker saver. As a matter of fact, my mom recently made me take home my sticker collection… *sigh*
August 8th, 2008 at 7:53 am
I also did that art supply conservation thing. This made many things go to waste; paints dried up and I had stickers that got brittle and lost their stickiness before I used them. So sad…
I love that you encourage her desire to use all the supplies.
And please… don’t let puffy-painted clothing come back in fashion. Ugh…
August 8th, 2008 at 9:25 am
What a neat idea! Thank you for sharing with everyone. Perhaps I will try this with my big guy before he heads off to kindergarten in a few weeks.
August 8th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Kaitlyn “Wow…that is a toool!!!!!”
Tool=cool
We are going to have to try this for sure!
August 8th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
OOooooh!! I want to try. I don’t ever remember playing with puffy paint.
August 8th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Am I me?
August 10th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
I still have my sticker album from 2nd grade. There’s a pristine sheet of E.T puffy stickers if that special occasion ever comes up …
August 30th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Looks like Annalie had quite a bit of fun.
I definitely remember the sticker collection,
I used to count my collection of stickers every week or so and was so excited when I added to it,
but I never really got to using them,
before I was too old and gave the box away.
But it was fun while it lasted.
Puffy paint, that looks like a lot of fun.
Too bad they don’t stay forever,
that cat is definitely a masterpiece.
September 24th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
This activity is cool! I, personally, enjoy craft making. It is fun and it enhances one’s creativity. I could stay at home and work on some craft.
You’ve done a great job Annalie..\(^ ^)/