Potato Prints
Feel like veggin' out? Then try this on your cards and giftwrap! You can create a
garden-fresh printing press with raw vegetables like potatoes.
What you'll need:
- potatoes
- a knife
- paintbrush and paints
- paper towels
- stiff paper, light cardboard, brown paper bags, and anything else you'd like to decorate
What to do:
- With the knife, cut the potato in half. Then dry off the cut surface by blotting it with a
paper towel.
- Carve a simple design (like a star, tree, or circle) into the flat end of the potato with your
knife. Be sure to cut away the parts that you don't want printed. You should end up with a raised
design (about 1/4" tall) on your potato.
- Use your paintbrush, using holiday colors and apply the color onto the raised design. The
paint should be thick, not watery, for a bold, sharp print.
- Turn the potato over and gently press the painted surface onto your cards, stationery, or
anything else you'd like to spruce up with holiday cheer.
*Here's a tip: make your prints on cut-up brown paper grocery bags, then use the printed paper as
giftwrap or bookjackets.)
*Here's another tip: You can make a single print or, for more exciting designs, repeat the
shape several times in different patterns and colors.
*And, another tip: You can also print with turnips, carrots, a wedge of cabbage--anything that
can produce pretty patterns with paint. Your imagination's the limit!
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