Printmaking with Pasta

Printmaking is just plain creative fun (no drawing!) and what could be more fun than printing with spaghetti?

Try this easy project with household items and tempera paint and learn some basic printmaking techniques.

Ages 6 and up.

 

Supplies:

  • Corrugated cardboard pieces
  • White glue
  • Spaghetti
  • Cotton swabs
  • Tempera paints: Brown, green, red and yellow *
  • Kitchen sponge
  • Plastic or foam plates
  • White paper (6" x 4.5")
  • Pencil

(* If you don't have brown paint, mix red and green together to make brown.)

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Directions:

1. Cut out a 2" x 2" piece of corrugated cardboard.

 
2. Spread a thin layer of white glue on it.
 
3. Break a piece of spaghetti into 1" pieces (make a few a little shorter than 1")
 
4. Lay the spaghetti pieces in the glue, creating a "fan" design.
 
5. Allow the glue to dry completely. While you are waiting, cut out another 2" x 2" piece of corrugated cardboard. Fold it over in half.
 
6. Create an "ink pad": Lay a slightly damp kitchen sponge in a plastic or foam plate. Pour some brown paint onto it and spread it around with a cotton swab.
 
7. Lightly sketch a branch onto the white paper with a pencil. Dab the folded edge of the cardboard on the ink pad and carefully print over the pencil lines. (Dab the cardboard in the ink pad in between stampings.) Allow to dry completely before the next step.
 
8. If your spaghetti stamp is completely dry, then wash out the sponge and create another ink pad using green paint.
   

9. Dab the spaghetti stamp into the green ink pad and stamp the pine needles all over the branches. (You may wish to do this a second time with yellow-green paint over the green paint.)

10. When the paint is dry, add berries by dipping a cotton swab into a little red paint and stamping with it.
   
11. Mount on black construction paper (optional).  

 

© Karine Bauch 2006. All rights reserved.

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