Jack spent the evening of the 4th with my mom and dad. I figured he's a little young to appreciate how loud and exciting fireworks can be. Besides, it's probably NOT a good idea to be lighting artillery shells with a baby on one hip...and this year I was determined to participate. Last year I had to sit out and just watch since I was pregnant, so this year I planned to make up for lost time. And boy, did we! Bret's good buddy got a great deal on fireworks this year, and he stocked up on the big stuff. He and Bret and I put on a show for a party of about 40 or so. SO FUN. They even got me my own special lighter with a mini blowtorch on the end. Awesome.
But I digress...back to Jack and the reason for this post. Since Jack couldn't experience the fireworks first hand, I thought I'd put one on his onesie! I hadn't quite gotten the potato stamping bug out of my system, so I pulled out a potato and some paint. Before long, he was celebrating the 4th in style! Here's how I did it:
Supplies:
potatoes
cutting board
knives (large and small)
paper towels
acrylic or fabric paint
brushes
onesie or t-shirt
Cutting the potato:
It's really important when you are cutting your potato that you make a straight, flat slice. If the surface of your stamp is uneven, then it might not all come in contact with the fabric, resulting in gaps in your design. It's best to use a big knife to make the initial cut. For the detail work, you can switch to a paring knife or even an Xacto.
To make your shapes, slice straight down into the surface of the potato, outlining the shape you want, then cut away the excess by slicing horizontally from the side. By doing this, your cuts should intersect and the extra pieces should fall away leaving a raised area that will be your stamp. (May sound a little complicated, but give it a try and you'll get the hang of it.) Another method is to just cut the potato down to the exact shape you want. This works really well for larger simple shapes. (I did it both ways in my design.) I also used a Speedball tool used for carving linoleum blocks to cut grooves in some of my stamps. You can find it here.
Printing:
Once you have your shapes, dab them first on a paper towel before adding paint. This soaks up any excess moisture so the paint will stick to the potato. You only need to do this once before adding the paint for the first time. Be sure to put a piece of cardstock or cardboard inside the shirt or onesie to protect it from the paint bleeding through to the back. Once you brush the paint onto the potato, stamp it first onto a piece of paper and then onto your fabric. This will remove any globs of paint and makes for a nicer print on the fabric. It also gives you an opportunity to make any adjustments to your stamp if you don't like the way it prints. Bonus - at the end, you have a paper print of your design as well!
It's just that easy, folks! In no time at all, you'll have a really cute outfit for your little one. When you're done, you can rinse off your stamps and put them in a bag with damp paper towel in the fridge and they will keep for a couple of days - just in case you want to print up some cards or wrapping paper.
Have fun!
