“A life without love is like a year without summer.” – Swedish proverb
Now that our light-up snowman and twinkly lights have finally come down (yes, we’re those people!), we’ve been talking up Valentine’s Day and all things hearts. While I see it as a holiday full of commercial hype and overpriced flowers, I’m reminded that for children it can be full of play and joy and loads of sugar. Mmmmm.
When N developed an addiction to sweet potatoes last week, I bought a five-pound bag of the little beauties only to find out she’s not eating them this week. Of course. So, amidst my plan to freeze a batch of roasted sweet potatoes I realized that they’d also be good for carving up some heart stamps.
So I cut one in half and carved out a couple hearts.
The heart shape rises about 1/2 inch off the potato base to help us get some nice, clean prints.
Materials
- Potato Stamp/s
- Tempera Paint. Acrylic works too, but you’ll see why I’m so happy I used washable tempera in just a moment
- Brayer or Paint roller
- Smooth, flat surface to squeeze the paint on
- Paper for printing
I rolled out a little bit of paint so that N could cover the stamp in a mostly uniform fashion. And then she got stamping.
Lately, she’s been interested in figuring out how things work. And then once her curiosity is satisfied, she’ll move on to the next thing. So here she is, done stamping in about three minutes flat and apparently investigating the bottom of the stamp. I had to leave the room for five minutes to change her baby sister’s diaper, and now I see that perhaps she was actually wondering how that black paint would feel all over her hands and the table?
Wow! That was a surprise!
I calmly reminded myself that it’s all about the process. And thanked myself for using washable paints. On our old school table that has seen worse days.
If you try this project, I’ve added a new feature that allows you to leave a picture in the comment section.
I love the look on her face as she checks out that potato!
In what section of the craft store should I look for a little paint roller like that? I briefly looked in Joann’s today but didn’t spend too much time because I wasn’t sure they’d have it anyway.
This roller was part of Crayola sidewalk chalk paint set we received as a gift, but I imagine you could find them in the childrens’ art section or decorative painting area? And yes, that face is classic!
I tried this one today with my daughter and her friend, they loved it! It kept them busy for almost 15 minutes (they both made a few pictures)which is pretty good for 2 1/2+ year olds 🙂 Thanks!
No kidding?! I know, 15 minutes in the world of a 2.5+ year old is an enormous amount of time! I’m so glad to hear this worked out for you and the kids, and thanks so much for the comment.
[…] Potato, Kale & Feta Wrap Recipe, and also switch things up. I came across this great idea by Rachelle over at TinkerLab. You can use sweet potatoes as stamps! 💟Heart […]
These are so sweet, I used to love potato printing
A very creative and wonderful idea, I think your ideas will be implemented and invent many other ideas.
[…] Use those extra potatoes to make some adorable Sweet Potato Heart Prints. […]
Very interesting ideas i like it so much good job.
Creative Ideas! thank you for sharing with us.
Really unique idea!
I used apples when I was a kid, but what you did was really beautiful, and I’m thinking about doing it for my son, thank you.
Good idea and unique. I enjoyed and appreciate this of you.
Your sharing is great, I found a lot of things in your post
Thank you so much for this Post and all the best for your future. You are really a talented person I have ever seen. I am satisfied with the arrangement of your post i think i must share here