Potato Stamps

This morning my son and I had fun painting with potatoes.  I had a sweet potato that was just growing ancient in my veggie basket, so I decided to put it to use in a different way.  I asked my son what shapes he wanted, and he chose circle (haha, ok, cut the potato in half and I already have that one), and a pumpkin.  I just used a paring knife to carve a stem and stripe on the "pumpkin" stamp, and we were good to go.  5 minutes of prep and we had a great time.  One of the things I liked best was how he decided to decorate the stamps after we'd painted with them.  One circle got turned into a ghost, and one pumpkin got a smiley face.  So easy and fun!

 

Supplies

• 1 large potato
• Chef's knife
• Paring knife
• Paint
• Brushes
• Paper

Directions

1. Cut the potato in half, or in thirds, to make slices for stamps.
2. Use a paring knife to carve designs into the stamps.  Scrape over the whole surface of the stamp after carving, to clear off scraps.
3. Dip the stamp in paint, spreading around.  Use paint brush to spread evenly on stamp and remove excess.  Optional: stamp a couple times on a paper towel before stamping on paper, to make a cleaner stamp image after the paint has set in.
4. Stamp firmly and evenly, and lift gently.  Decorate image with smaller paint brushes.