Physical Development: Painting with clothes pins encourages an array of fine motor development along with hand-eye coordination. Children will grasp, squeeze, stir, and more while they create their masterpieces.
Make Your Own DIY Paintbrushes for Kids!
Kids will have a blast creating their own DIY Paintbrushes! With each creation children will be given the opportunity to discover the different textures, designs, and looks that they can achieve as they use each style of paint brush!
This week while browsing through the arts and crafts areas of bloggers that I follow I came across this adorable Fourth of July kid craft by. Crafty Morning What really caught my eye about it was her choice of paintbrush. It got me thinking, what other fun textures could we create our own DIY paintbrushes with?
Homemade DIY Paintbrushes:
Materials:
Brush Ideas:
| PomPoms** | Cupcake Liners |
| Sponge** | Old Credit or Gift Cards |
| Bubble Wrap ** | Burlap |
| Leaves ** | Crepe Paper |
| Foam ** | Twine |
| Yarn ** | Cosmetic Wedge |
| Scouring Pad | Feathers |
| Loofah Sponge | Fruit Netting |
| Felt | Pipe Cleaner |
| Cotton Balls | …and MUCH more! |
Instructions:
- Step One. Gather your materials and cut larger materials down to size. We cut strips of the fabric and foam to fold into brushes.
- Step Two. Use the clothespins to clip in each material and make a brush.
And Viola! Your done. SUPER SIMPLE!
How to Make Homemade Paintbrushes
When the idea of getting your wall painting done with some colourful murals or designs first strikes you, you may find yourself going down the DIY route, which can promise to be quite a fun prospect. One of the first and most important elements of your tool kit will be the paintbrushes themselves. In this post, we examine the variety of ways you can go about making your own paintbrushes at home and have some fun along the way as well. Your wall painting art ideas will soon come to life, once you have these essential ingredients ready to do them justice.
What are paint brushes made of
Paint brushes come in all shapes and sizes and are typically made up of either soft or hard hair. These can consist of natural hair or synthetic hair. The softer hair brushes are more effective when the paint is thin and spreads around easily in cases like watercolour paintings. For times when the paint is thicker and needs to be pushed around more, the thicker and more coarse hair is preferred, like when attempting to bring your next wall painting masterpiece to life using oil paints. Whatever your medium or canvas may be, select your raw materials for the paint brushes you want to make accordingly.
Tip top bristles
The story of the paintbrush begins at the very top, the crowning glory which is the paint brush bristles. Now, when it comes to crafting homemade art supplies, you may have to get a bit creative, but then again that’s what makes the whole thing fun in the first place isn’t it. Finding the right kind of hair is the first step. Human hair is the easiest to get your hands on, simply snip some off the top of your own head or that of an unsuspecting family member and you’re good to go. Pet hair won’t usually do the trick unless you’re lucky enough to have easy access to a horse, which, let’s face it most of us aren’t. Plant based materials such as particularly long blades of grass or straw could do the trick as well, keep your eye out for the more fibrous types of plants to find the ones more suited for making bristles for your paintbrush.
Can you handle it
Now that you’ve got your bristles ready and waiting, you can move on to finding a suitable handle for your soon to be paintbrush. For this, you’ll want to search for something slim that fits comfortably into your fingers, something that you are perhaps already used to handling like you would a paintbrush. It could be an old pencil or even a chopstick you have lying around. Any piece of wood from your front yard or the great outdoors, that is relatively sturdy and will not crumble upon a bit of pressure, should do the trick. Next up, grab your trusted drill machine and drill a hole into the tip of the handle piece you have selected. Make sure to drill a smaller hole than you may think you need, since all you need to fit into that is a clump of hair that will make up the bristle bunch. This can be a tricky piece of work so please remember to follow all the safety precautions that are recommended when handling an electric drill.
Brush up
With a suitably sized hole drilled into your handle of choice, you’re now ready for the delicate procedure to bring the two pieces together. The first thing you’re going to need is a reliable glue to bind the two. For long lasting, thicker brushes, using a waterproof glue makes for a more durable solution. With the right glue in your hands, trickle some carefully into the hole you have created in your paint brush handle. Be very careful here as the last thing you want to do is deal with sticky fingers. Once you have successfully inserted the appropriate amount of glue into the handle, go ahead and guide a bunched up set of bristles you had readied in the beginning. As you place your bristles into the hole, you may see the need for adding more or removing some if you have mis anticipated the fit between the two sizes. Do so carefully until the drilled hole is full and is tightly packed with bristles. It is now necessary to secure the bristles into place further with some reinforcements. See if you can find some string, wire or any other binding material that can be used to wrap itself around the area where the handle meets the bristles. It would be advisable to give a bit more spread to this binding as this element doubles up as a sort of a grip for your fingers when you’re handling the brush. With the glue in place and the wire to bind it up, your very own handmade paint brush is now ready for use. Set it down and let the glue dry up and once that’s done, you’re ready to bring your imagination to life with your own custom made paint brush.
Different strokes for different folks
Making your own paintbrush may not be that difficult if you’re looking to have some fun and create your own style. However, if you’re looking to extend your painting prowess to more than just your canvas, the DIY route can only take you so far. For a more professional perspective on getting your house painting or wall painting done, Aapkapainter provides you with a holistic solution. From colour consulting to final wall painting implementation and everything in between, just give us a call and we’ll ensure your house painting experience is completely hassle free.
