How to make homemade watercolors

Here we are, about half way through summer break. If your kids are anything like mine, they already bored! I got a cool little art project for you, that also has a healthy dose of science project mixed in…

Let’s make Homemade Watercolor Paints!

This is what you will need:

Measure 1 cup baking soda, slowly add 3/4 cup vinegar.

This is where the science project comes in. Seriously, mix in slowly, or you will have an eruption of volcanic proportions. It’s fun to watch the chemical reaction. Mix well. Measure 1 cup of cornstarch. Slowly mix in the cornstarch. A word of advice: don’t dump the whole cup in at once time. We did that and the mixture became to hard to stir, so we had to start over.

Stir to combine well. It becomes a strange mixture of liquid and solid. Then, add 2 tablespoons corn syrup. This gives your watercolors a bit of shine when dry.

Mix well, then pour mixture into the pill box compartments. This mixture made enough to fill more than two pill boxes.

Dip the popsicle stick into the food coloring gel and carefully mix. Use  a little at a time because the gel can be really dark, so start with a little and add more to the desired colors.

Let your watercolors dry overnight…or 3 days, in our case. Make a sample swatch of each watercolor and glue to top of each compartment lid.

Once your watercolors set, get out the watercolor paper and have fun!

In other news, I’ve been working on a cow series of watercolors. I have a little herd going:

Top left to bottom left: Julianne, Lotty, Vanessa and Angus. I am slowing getting the herd into the Have Faith Studio Shop. Below is just a few fun products in the shop. I hope that you will click over and check out the girls.