Make Potato Printing Handmade Paper

Below is a fun and easy idea for "making handmade paper" with your children. For information on how to really make your own paper click on the link below.

How to Make Paper

You will need:

A potato

A knife

A scratching tool (pencil, nail file)

Paper towels

Nontoxic Paint

Paper

Make Safe and Natural Paint

Have an adult cut the potato in half.

Scratch your design (a flower, a leaf, the sun) into the flat, cut surface of the potato with the scratching tool to a depth of about 1/8 of an inch (3mm).

Press the potato onto the towels to absorb excess moisture.

Dip the potato into the pan, being careful not to make the paint to thick.

Press the potato onto the paper to make a print. Repeat this as often as you'd like to make the design you want.

Let the paint dry then use your creation as stationary, to make a card or to wrap a present.

Your child can even bundle up several sheet together tie them up with a pretty bow or put them in a box stamped with the same design and give them as a handmade gift.

Fold several sheets in half to make cards, add some cute sayings to one side, again bundle 4 or 5 with string or in a box with the same design for a great gift idea any Mom or Grandma is sure to love.

Brushing paint on a cut apple also makes fantastic handmade paper stationary or greeting cards.

Cut a round apple in half, then poke out its seeds with a toothpick and set them aside. Blot the cut surface with a paper towel until it's dry. Brush whit acrylic paint all over the cut surface, then add a line of red or green paint around the edge. If the stem is still attached, brush brown paint on it. Stamp the apple on a folded piece of card stock or regular paper. To print the seeds, spear one with a toothpick, then dip it in brown paint and stamp it where desired.

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