Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Homemade Water Color Paint


This homemade idea was inspired by my mother...Lately she's been asking for art crated by the little. Since she lives about 20 hours away from us, I like to make arts and crafts and send them her way.
I was browsing the art isle at Wal Mart (of all places right!?) thinking maybe we can do some painting with water colors. I don't know if you've checked lately, but that measly little pack of water colors by Crayola is like 3 bucks. I know that isn't necessarily a "bank breaker" but hey, if I can make it at home from stuff in the pantry (for free), I'm all over it!!! 
 
So, here you have it, Homemade Water Color Paints!! I found this recipe over at Happy Hooligans. She has a bunch of cute stuff to do with the littles.
 
What you'll need:
  •  4 Tbs Baking Soda
  •  2 Tbs White Vinegar
  •  1/2 tsp Light Corn Syrup
  •  2 Tbs Corn Starch
  •  Food Coloring (I use the Wilton Gels for a more vibrant color, but the dropper kind works just fine here)
  • Something to hold your paints in ( I used a cheap ice cube tray from the dollar store, you could use a mini muffin tray, small Tupperware, pretty much anything you don't mind storing the paints in)


    Mix your baking soda and vinegar together first. I mixed them in a measuring cup so it would be easy to transfer to my cups after I had everything mixed together. I also doubled this recipe. Doubling it let me fill about 11 compartments half way. I definitely recommend doubling this if you want a good variety of colors.
     
     
    After it's done bubbling, add your remaining ingredients.
    Mix well. It will be a bit stiff, but just keep mixing until it becomes liquidy (is that really a word? probably not).
    Once it's mixed together pour into tray (or whatever you decided to hold the paints).
     
     
     
    Once you have all your mixture poured in, add your colors. I just used a tooth pick to stir in my colors.
     
     
    Now, after that you have to WAIT....This could easily take 24 to 48 hours to dry completely. So, just put them up and forget about them for at least a day or two.
    This recipe does create beautiful color paints, but they are a bit chalky, and will rub off if you rub the paint once it's dry on the paper. Other than that, this paint is AWESOME!!
     
     
     
    Happy Crafting

5 comments:

  1. If you would like to preserve the paintings, spray them with a fine mist of max hold hairspray (i like rave it works best and cheap!) or you could always laminate!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great idea! I didn't think of that. Thank you for sharing!

      Delete
  2. This could be a fun project for teaching the littles how to make paint. Especially if you're studying painters from centuries ago who had to make their own paints. Thanks for posting it. But a money saver? I don't think so. I know most of these are cupboard staples, but they aren't free just cause they're in there. And to get ALL those colors would be an investment in food coloring, esp if you use the paste, which is really pricey. Between the time and money in gathering all the supplies, I'd drop the 3 bucks on crayola. Better yet, I just get new sets during back to school sales and spend even less.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I got every one of these colors from the 4 primary colors that are in the food coloring box. I only used some of the gel because that's what I had on hand. I know it obviously isn't free, but I'm just stating that it's definitely cheaper. I'd much rather use what's in my pantry that I've already paid for than to go drop 3 or 4 dollars on some at the store. Happy Crafting :)

      Delete
  3. I don't know, Steph. I figure it would cost me about $0.57-$0.73 per batch if I don't include the tray and use liquid water color or liquid(not gel)food coloring.

    ReplyDelete