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It’s always fun to make your own craft supplies, whether for your kids or your own use. I’m still enjoying the homemade gesso I made a few months ago and need to make a new batch soon.
I decided to try making some paint, not because we need more paint, but because it’s fun to experiment, and I wanted to see how it would work.
It’s not going to replace store-bought paint any time soon, but it was an interesting sensory experience, and the girl enjoyed using it, too.
What You’ll Need
- flour
- water
- liquid dish soap
- food coloring
- little jars, bowls or plastic containers
What You’ll Do
- Mix equal parts flour and water with a squirt of liquid dish soap (I did one cup of each, which made a lot of paint).
- Divide into containers and add food coloring. I was mostly using the ends of bottles, but probably at least 10 drops per container.
- Mix well (I used a wooden skewer, though some I shook as well).
- Paint.
When I used the paint right after making it, it was pretty gloppy and chalky and I really wanted to use it as fingerpaint instead of with a brush.
My major complaint was that I used Dawn instead of my regular dish soap in the recipe (I’d just bought it for another purpose) and the smell drives me crazy. The girl said it didn’t bother her when she used it, though, so take that as you will.
The girl used it a few days later to paint a newspaper-covered pumpkin, and it seemed to be much more liquid and smooth at that point. It was somewhat drippy and messy but made a really cute pumpkin.
She really liked using it and I’m sure we’ll keep the leftovers and maybe even use this homemade paint recipe again some day.
Have you ever made your own paint? Did you use this sort of recipe or something else? How did you like it? I’d love to hear your thoughts.