Monday, June 13, 2011

Puffy Paint, Cereal Box, Picture Frames for Father's Day


I'm hoping to inspire the children into action, with a few Father's Day themed, craft projects, this week.

Not every project appeals to every child, and I'd like the children to come up with their own gifts for their father, as much as possible. But, sometimes it doesn't hurt to have a few suggestions on hand.

I started today, with picture frames, cut from cereal boxes...




...ready to be decorated with puffy paint...


...and filled with child-drawn artwork, or sentimental notes, for the Man of the House.


We made our own puffy paint, using a recipe I saw last week at Brimful Curiosities:



  • 1 Tablespoon Self-Rising Flour. We didn't have self-rising flour, so we added 1/8 teaspoon of baking powder to the flour - per a suggestion from Brimful Curiosities. She didn't have self-rising flour either, and just used regular flour, and both seem to work about the same.


  • 1 Tablespoon Salt.


  • 1 Tablespoon Water. Brimful Curiosities thinned hers with additional water, for painting with a brush. We kept ours thick, and used it as a finger paint.


  • A Couple of Drops of Food Coloring.

Once the paint is thickly applied onto cardboard, or card stock, it can be microwaved for 15 seconds, to make it puff, and dry. The children thought that was pretty nifty.

As to the picture frame, the decorated portion once puffed...


...was glued on the bottom, and sides, to a solid rectangle of cereal box cardboard, with the printed side forward...


...a strip of cardboard was folded at the top, and glued to the back of the frame, to make a stand...


...and artwork was slipped in, from the top.


So, they have one Father's Day gift down, and five to go (even though this one was really a group project).

Meanwhile, the children also enjoyed open ended painting with the puffy paint...


...and made a set of letter cards for spelling practice.


I'd say they liked the paint. It was simple to make, and easy to clean up, so I'm happy with it, too. But, it dries pretty fast, so it's probably best for small projects, if you want to be able to microwave it, before it hardens on its own.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

12 comments:

Christy Killoran said...

We have made that puffy paint before - it's fun! I love the frame idea. We might have to add that to our list of father's day presents!

Ticia said...

What a great idea!

Jerri at Simply Sweet Home said...

What a fun and cute idea!

noreen said...

Hi, I found your link from Gae's Cherished Hearts At Home and I came over to say hello! Your fun project for father's day looks like it was a hit. Children love to paint!
www.rosarymom.blogspot.com

noreen said...

Oh shoot, I said that wrong. I found your link on Sue Elvis' Writes blog.

Phyllis said...

I like the picture frame idea, and puffy paint is on my list of things to do.

Theresa said...

Cool! I never heard of making your own puffy paint!

Marcee said...

Cool idea! So what did you use for the base paint/color? Tempura? Just noticed how many followers you have! Awesome!

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

Marcee - Food coloring :)

Debbie said...

I love these little frames. What a great idea.

Brimful Curiosities said...

Your puffy paint project turned out great and thanks for the mention! I was a little surprised at how heavy our pictures were when they were finished. Good thing you decided to make your frame from a cereal box!

Natalie PlanetSmarty said...

I like this craft and thanks for the puffer paint recipe! This also reminded me to get my act together for Father's Day - tomorrow is the only chance to get the craft done!