Instead of tossing paper towel and toilet paper rolls in the recycling, use them to design your very own stamps. Focus on basic shapes or take on the challenge of building more complicated designs for your masterpiece.
Materials
Paper towel or toilet paper rolls- Paint
- Painters pallet (we use paper plates)
- Scissors
- Canvas, paper, or cardboard
- Newspaper (to help contain any mess and make clean up easier)
Instructions
- To get more shapes out of one roll, we suggest cutting paper towel rolls into three sections, and toilet paper rolls in half.
Manipulate the ends of the roll into a heart, oval, triangle, square, and rectangle. Don’t worry about it being perfect, just aim to be able to see a variety of shapes.- Select the paint colors you wish to use, and pour a dollop onto your pallet. You only need enough so every edge can be covered.
- Begin stamping on your canvas, paper, or cardboard.
- Experiment with patterns, overlapping shapes, and how the colors may mix.
Shape ideas:
Firework: Using your scissors make equal length cuts one end of the roll, as if you are creating a fringe. Gently bend the ends so they all face outwards creating an octopus like shape.- Flower 1: The easiest way to make a flower is to bend a roll into an oval, this will act as the petal. Repeat the oval around a central point until you have the number of petals you want. Creating a wider oval for larger petals, and thinner ovals for smaller petals.
- Flower 2: Cut your roll into the number of petals you want; we suggest having at least 5 that are no more than an inch thick. Bend each ring into an oval and glue, tape, or paperclip together. If you want to prevent mixing your colors, make a flower for each color you wish to use. Once the paint dries, they can always be reused another day!
- Butterfly: Cut the tube into four rings and bend them into the size ovals you wish. Using tape, glue, or paper clips, attached all four rings with four ends coming together to replicate the shape of butterfly wings.