Here’s a recycled project great for a rainy day. After making these stamps the other day, I wanted to try something that would allow the kids to be more involved in the process. So, remembering this smart project from glittergoods, I gathered a couple of styrofoam trays. I added some plastic bottle tops and there you go — custom stamps.
Supplies:
- styrofoam trays
- plastic bottle caps
- craft knife
- cutting mat
- stamp ink pads
- pen or pencil
First, I cut off the curved edges from the styrofoam trays with scissors. Then I traced the outline of a plastic cap onto the foam and let the girls make their drawings within the circle. I then cut these out with a craft knife because I found that scissors left a jagged edge, but it’s not a precision art here. Oh, and if you’re going to try to write words, remember to make them a mirror image (I literally had to walk into the bathroom and hold the letters to the mirror because my brain does not work that way).
I talked with the girls about positive and negative space and encouraged them to draw their designs with as little detail as possible. It probably would have been helpful to have the kids draw their designs on paper first and to show them a sample of a completed styrofoam stamp. After they drew their designs, I went over them with the pen to make sure the grooves were deep enough to avoid the ink.
Once I cut out the shape, I glued the styrofoam circle to the cap with the hot glue gun. I’m thinking that these won’t last forever because the styrofoam flattens out a bit, but they are a lot of fun. My four-year-old wants to make more and more of these, so I guess we’ll have to go back to the farmer’s market and buy more muffins.
