thrifty crafts - d.i.y. potato stamp tutorial


another craft project that falls under the category "things we did as kids" (such as sylvia's salt dough crafting) is potato stamping.
have you done that before? it's quite easy, thrifty, and a fun project to do for those that want to get into hand made stamps but don't want to invest into all the professional tools and materials right now.


what you will need:

    • raw potatoes
    • sharp knife or carving tools
    • paint or ink pad
    • pen or marker to design your stamp
    • something to stamp onto such as cardboard or napkins


how to make potato stamps:

1)  draw the shape you'd like to stamp onto a sheet of paper. it could be something as easy as a heart, star, snowman, tree, a letter... or you could try something more complicated if you're up for the challenge!
make sure your drawing fits into the diameter of the potato you're using.

2)  cut the potato in half or into generous slices. cut out the shape you drew in step 1 and trace it onto the raw side of the potato, or directly draw the shape onto it if you're good at free hand drawing.

3)  carve out the background/outside of the shape (at least that's the easier way of going about.)

4)  use an ink pad or dip the stamp into paint and stamp away!
if you don't finish your project within a day, store the raw potato stamp in water or else it will dry out and lose its firm shape.


here are some ideas what projects you could use hand made potato stamps for:

     • greeting cards
     • customized napkins
     • gift wrap paper
     • gift tags
     • place cards for weddings and other events
     • create fabric patterns
     • individualize shirts, bags, notepads
     • artsy stationery






in the example photos i made stamps with the shape of sea shells. you might wonder why i chose a summer theme in the middle of fall/winter, but the reason was that "instant beach vacation" we all took together... remember?!  :)  i had invited the friends over that we had traveled with, so to revive the beach feeling we had sea food, looked at our trip pictures together, and along with the seashells i had collected i decorated the table with these stamped seashell napkins.

let me know how this project works out for you, i'd love to see what ideas you come up with!

linking up with: creative spaces

6 comments:

Ren- Lady Of The Arts said...

Fun- I do remember doing these as a kid- now I prefer to carve into rubber- usually something recycled from packaging- and that way I can reuse it over and over-
nice to find your blog! ren

Chiara said...

These are reminding me my childhood!!!
I have to dig in those years for finding crafty, funny things to do.
I'll try to do this with fabric-paint on a blank sheet...
I love your blog...

Greatings from the Alps :)
(Thank you for your visit!)

Clara

Sherry said...

I've heard of potato stamps before but I always thought they were complicated to make. Thanks for the tutorial, I think I would like to give this a shot. I'm a new follower, please drop by for a visit when you have a chance.

laccentnou said...

That's fun! :)
I love stamping and using potato is a great idea!

sylvia said...

your's turned out lovely! i really like the design!

Marianne said...

Oh....those good old days.... Great idea to share this simple and inexpensive art.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...