Kids Craft Recipe Factory — craft recipes for kids, teachers, schools and parents.

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Inks, dyes and Collage Art

Bubbly Sudsy Ink

Ingredients

liquid detergent/soap

Ink color (india ink, food coloring or tempera paint)

Good clean fun. Mix together liquid detergent and coloring. Blow the mixture through a straw until it bubbles over the top but does not run down the sides. Place a sheet of paper over the bubbles. The bubble pattern will transfer to the paper. This method is great for making book covers, stationary, etc.

Earthy Inks

Ingredients

1 quart berries roots or leaves (from below)

2 quarts water

1 ounce of alum

Onion skins - light brown, yellow, orange

Spinach - green

Beets - rose

Goldenrod flowers - gold

Coffee - brown

Red sumac leaves - black

Red sumac berries - red

Carrots - yellow

Cabbage - purple

Also try different grasses and flowers. Experiment.

Nature makes wonderful colors. To make the dyes chop, crush or grind the ingredients. Soak overnight in just enough water to cover the ground powders. The next day add water and boil for 1 hour. Strain the dye using cheesecloth. Add alum. Be careful natural dyes stain.

Collage Art

Egg Dye

1/4 teaspoon food coloring

3/4 cup hot water

1 tablespoon vinegar

Easter egg dye is not just for Easter. Break up the colored shells and use as a collage material. Measure liquids into a bowl. Separate into small bowls. Add food coloring to each mixture. Soak hard boiled eggs in dye.

Corny Colored "Sand"

Ingredients

1 cup corn meal

1/2 teaspoon water

food coloring

Real sand is great but corny sand is lighter, brighter and easier to make. Mix together all ingredients in an airtight container. Shake until mixed. You may have press coloring into the cornmeal with a spoon or your hands. Let the cornstarch dry. The colored sand can be used to make indian paintings or for making designs in glass jars. Cut up paper bags and use a glue bottle to squeeze patterns onto pieces of cut up grocery bags.

Rice, Noodle and Pasta Dye

Ingredients

1 cup instant rice, noodles or pasta

1 teaspoon water

Food coloring

Combine a few drops of food coloring and approximately one teaspoon of water in a zip lock bag. Add art material of your choice and shake. Let dry on waxed paper. Use a white glue to make designs on cardboard.

Gooeey, Stringy, Noodle Collage Art

Ingredients

Spagetti pasta

Food coloring

Fill a sauce pan with enough water to cover the amount of pasta you will be cooking. Add food coloring. When the water is boiling add spagetti pasta and cook according to the directions on the package. Drain and let cool until warm. Make designs with the colored pasta on stiff cardboard. The starch in the pasta will make it stick.

Marbling Recipe

Psychedelic Marbling Stuff

Ingredients

Liquid starch

Acrylic paints

Water

2 cookie sheets

Great for making book covers, book marks and cards. Pour liquid starch into a shallow pan. Drop acrylic paint into starch. Use a comb or fork or knife to make funky wave patterns in the paint. Carefully place a piece of paper flat onto the surface of the starch bath. Carefully lift up and put in water bath to remove excess starch. Let dry.