We made Christmas cards and wrapping paper with the art group last week using potato stamps. I carved stars, trees, and a few abstract designs into the potatoes, including a couple designs that Maia drew for me to use.
Fun was had by all!
As usual, the finished artworks ranged from the crisp stamped card in the center to the "use the potato as a paint brush" works on either side.
We also stamped paper grocery bags, cut open and turned inside out, to make wrapping paper.
By the way, I made my own stamp pads for the paint this time.
For fruit and vegetable printing in the past, I just poured paint into a shallow dish and let the kids press the vegetables into the paint directly or paint the vegetables with a brush. But the results were often goopy -- not nearly as crisp as I would like. So this time I made some simple stamp pads by setting a piece of inexpensive felt on a plate, added a dollop of tempera paint, spreading it around and letting it soak into the felt a bit. The result was much crisper!
