Messy Monday: Homemade Finger Paint Artwork!

I have been wanting to try finger paints where I could actually keep the artwork Beatrix made. She is still exploring the world with her mouth, so I am not super comfortable with letting her use commercial paints. I found THIS RECIPE for non-toxic finger paint, so I decided to give it a go! Knowing exactly what was in it, and that everything was edible, made me feel a lot better about her getting her hands into it!

For the paint:

3 TBSP sugar
1/2 TSP salt
1/2 C cornstarch
2 C water
Food coloring

Combine all ingredients except food coloring in a small saucepan and warm on low heat while stirring until mixture begins to thicken. Pour into containers (one for each desired color) and add food coloring. Make sure the paint is not too hot before you start painting!

The first batch I made, I let it thicken too long and when I went to use it this morning, it was firm - almost like a rubbery play-dough. Thankfully it doesn't take long at all to stir up a batch, I just put Beatrix up on my back in the Tula and she watched!

You could do this on paper, but we did it on a canvas I had prepared, because I want to give it as a Christmas gift to someone. For the canvas, I painted it yellow, then when that was dry, I drew the design with pencil freehand and filled it in with tape. I would have used painters tape, but I didn't have any, so I used some washi tape. The color bled through slightly though, because it got wet, so just a warning there. I cut it in small pieces and really made sure there were no bubbles where paint could seep under. I pulled the tape off while the finger paint was still wet.

We used the paint basically right away, while it was still a little warm, since she already had her footie-pj's-turned-paint-smock on on top of her clothes and was itching to go.

First she just wanted to paint with the fork that I had stirred the paint with, but she switched to brushes, then her hands.

Then she painted her hands and my hand! It was most definitely a Messy Monday!

She accidentally spilled 2 of the pots of paint, thankfully it was thick enough that it didn't soak through the towel. I am not going to post the finished project, as it is a Christmas gift, but it turned out really cute! It did stain our hands, but I haven't tried that hard to wash it off yet. Based off past experiences, food coloring washes out after a bath pretty well. You could also use liquid watercolors, which are washable, just not quite as taste safe. She did try to put it in her mouth a couple of times, so I am glad we used a non-toxic recipe!