The amazing and ever creative Gabrielle from Design Mom is sharing a wonderful tutorial on potato printing. (Don’t say I told you– but today is Gabrielle’s birthday, please visit her and wish her a very Happy Birthday!
Gabrielle writes…
My kids love using this age-old technique to customize t-shirts, tote bags, bandannas… whatever they
can get their hands on.
Here’s how we make potato prints:
1) Use a good-sized baking potato. Scrub it to remove any dirt (your don’t want dirt mixing with your paint). Slice it in half through the fattest part of the middle.
2) With a pencil or pen, draw a simple shape on the cut end of the potato half. Think hearts, stars, initials. We’ve also done smiley faces, skulls and even a simple bird. Because the cut end is wet-ish, the pencil/pen won’t work that well. Don’t worry, you’re just making a basic guideline.
3) Use an exacto knife to cut away the parts of the potato that fall outside the shape. Cut in about 1/4″ deep. The shape will become a raised surface.
4) Make a puddle of fabric paint on a paper plate. Press the shape into the paint, or use a sponge brush to apply fabric paint to the shape. Then press the inked shape onto the fabric. Repeat as many times as you’d like. Want to change paint colors? Just rinse the potato in running water and pat dry.
5) After the paint is dry, follow the paint directions and set the stamped area with a hot iron.
Other notes:
-Fabric paint typically works best on natural fibers.
-Experiment first on a spare scrap of fabric so you can see what kind of paint coverage you prefer on the potato stamp.
-Some fabric paints don’t show up well on dark colors, so you might want to stick with lighter colors to print on.
Yay for potato printing!
For inspiration and loads of beautiful pictures and creative ideas visit Design Mom.
More Summer Crafts!
I highlighted this project on my Kids Painting post tonite. I also linked up to Design Mama. Can’t wait to give this a try with my grandson. He’ll love it!
I must make some potato prints with my daughter she will love it! I used to make them… seems like a great time to try it again! Thanks for sharing!
I did the same thing for my christmas cards a few years back. So unique, effective and cheap!
have a look here:
http://www.adelle.com.au/potato-stamp-christmas-cards
So cute!! I’ve seen potato stamps but never tried making one myself. I really love these designs tho, and make me wanna try my hand at it!
If you cut the potatoes in half an hour or so before you want to carve and stamp, they will dry out a little and make it easier to work with and the paint sticks better to the potato.
Potato stamping is fun.
Potato stamps are so fun! I think that skull is the most creative one I’ve ever seen!
Ooh! I haven’t done this since I was a kid. I think it might be time to introduce the kids… thanks for the post!!
This looks like something my grandchildren would love to do this summer. Thanks for sharing. I would never have thought of this on my own.
Such a cute blog! Crafts are so much fun. I’m not very versed in them right now, and my little one is only 6-months-old, so I haven’t done anything with her yet. It will be fun to be able to do crafty projects with her soon, though!
God bless!
Jennifer
Great tutorial! I’m hoping my almost-3 grandson can play with this. He’ll have fun no matter what it looks like!
Hey Cindy! I just saw in your sidebar that you are behind Sweet! on FB. Kim recommended it and I ‘liked’ your page. I didn’t realize it was you. I just want to learn how to bake better.
GREAT Idea. I love it. I passed up the opportunity to by a huge lot of stamps at a consignment shop, and I have been kicking myself since then. Thanks for making things better. 🙂
Love this idea… it’s one of my kids’ favorite things to do… however we usually stamp on paper. I think it’d be super fun to let them decorate their own shirts!
This is super cute. I have a ton of potatos I got on sale and now I know what I can do with some of them. Very creative!
darling! it has been forever and a day since i made potato stamps. thanks for all of these amazing ideas!