How to Make Potato Print Wall Art
Potato print wall art is simple and adds a creative and warm decorating touch to a wall surface. It is a low cost decorating project that brings an eclectic style to your house that guests will comment on time and time again. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Potato
- Sharp paring sized knife
- Small container of acrylic paint
- Small plate with a lip or raised edge
- Paper towels or a rag to wipe up any
- Newspaper to set the project on and to test the stamp on
- A wall area you are going to decorate
Instructions
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1
Spread newspaper over a work space. Place the items from the supply list on top of the newspaper. This makes cleanup much easier after you are done making your potato print wall art.
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2
Cut the potato in half. Don’t peel the potato. It works better if you cut width wise and not length wise. The potato will be easy to hold that way when making your potato print wall art on the surface of the wall.
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3
Draw a simple design onto the white part of the halved potato with the tip of your paring knife. Then carefully cut down into the potato about ¼ to ½ inch following the pattern straight down. Remove the excess you have cut away. You will end up with a raised stamping surface that has your design on it. For instance if you are making a star, you want the finished shape to be a raised stamp with the rest of the potato ¼ to ½ inch lower than the design.
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Pour a small amount of acrylic paint onto your paint plate. Spread it out enough to cover the surface of the design you created in the potato. Acrylic paint is water based and easy to work with and clean up after. Lightly dip the finished raised shape on your potato into so that the surface of your design is covered. Test the thickness on some of your work area newsprint. Don’t apply it too thickly or the print on the wall will come out in a messy glob instead of a nice crisp design on your potato print wall art.
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Use a separate potato for each color. Potatoes are very absorbent. To keep the colors separate, it is better to make more than one potato stamp if you want more than one color design.
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Tips & Warnings
When you are done, rinse off the potato and throw it in your compost pile. You can’t save these for very long to reuse them, but they are easy to make again with more potatoes. Throw the newspaper into a newspaper recycling bin.
If children are doing this project be sure to supervise the potato carving.
