Taters Not Just for Eating

Finished works. Halloween Invites , Butterfly and
Heart paper for letter writing. 

My 9 yr. old and I were watching a program that teaches educational crafts to children and one of the projects was making your own designer stamps. I helped her remember that we had done potato stamps not to long ago and she was even more excited. We had also used apples as stamps for an apron she made for herself. You see it's not just potato's that can be used as stamps of  course the more porous the veggie or fruit the better your stamp will turn out.
I had not given any thought to the carving tools we had used until I watched this program. You see there are many different carving tools we could be using , such as pumpkin carving tools or Polymer Clay carving tools. By using these we can actually get more detail in our potato stamps such as a butterfly which was the one we saw on the program. Of course you could also use the small metal cookie cutters for some basic shapes.

Sometimes using a paintbrush is better
For more detailed Stamps.

Be sure to Blot before Stamping. You can see
I have blotted before stamping.

Now Paints , we like using the cheap acrylic paints they are usually under a buck and we always have them on hand in this house....lol
The normal size bottle lasts and lasts , you can add a little water if you like to give it a bit of a watercolor feel or watercolors themselves can be used. Clean up with either is very easy , but if young children are stamping I would suggest using something to cover them that doesn't matter , the acrylic if it sets for 24 hours or more it is Set and will not come out. Which is one of the things we like using it for , you see stamping isn't only for paper it is a great way to let children express themselves with their clothing. A T-shirt as an example is a great way to let them show their style and stamping with a stamp they designed boosts their creativity and self expression even more.
One other tip try using other things like the side of your hand to make baby feet patterns. Simply curl up your hand and dip the side of it in paint and stamp onto your project , then take your pinky finger and dip in the paint and make the toes.... It's so cute and wonderful for expecting moms. This is the one you will see below , it can also be used as a beach theme.

Line shirt with wax paper

Curl up fist and dip outside of hand in paint.
Place on shirt , press & lift.

Repeat until walking pattern is formed.

Add toes by dipping finger in paint.