What do you do when you’re quarantined at home and want to do some painting but don’t have the paints or the colors you need. Cry? No. That wouldn’t do anyone any good. You can do better and make some if you have a few pantry staples. Not gonna lie, this was my first time taking on this endeavor. And it took a few tries for us to be happy with the results. So in case you saw the previous post and want to paint your ornaments or some other fun craft this week, this paint will work great. If you’re cursing at me through your computer right now because you don’t have flour, then I am deeply sorry. So far (fingers crossed) we can still get it here in Istanbul. Buuuut, I am happy to report, there is this recipe for Watercolor Paint without flour that we haven’t tried but I’m sure we will very soon.
As far as the flour & salt paint goes, one of the reasons as mentioned above we weren’t happy with it right off the bat, is because it was a little too thick and grainy. (Most homemade paint recipes I found had equal parts flour, salt and water.) Adding a little more water helped, but not quite enough. We found that using boiling water and mixing it with the salt first, helped. As did increasing the amount of water. Also, giving it a quick blitz with an immersion blender helped to emulsify it even better.
One thing to note about this paint, is yes, it will still be a bit grainy. So that means it has a slight puff to it when it dries. What’s cool though, is when it dries the salt gives it a pretty sort of sparkle. You can definitely use a paint brush with this paint as we did to make our Salt Dough Easter Egg Ornaments, but it doesn’t exactly paint on paper the way regular or acrylic paint will. (Again, the graininess.) It’s still pretty and lots of fun though, and all natural. Another plus, it dries really quickly, which we found helpful when wanted to layer colors.
3 Ingredient Homemade Paint
Ingredients
- 1 cup table salt
- 1 cup flour
- 1 1/2 -1 2/3 cups boiling water
- food coloring
Instructions
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In a medium bowl add the salt and boiling water. Whisk until most of the salt is dissolved, then whisk in the flour. (you won't be able to dissolve all the salt)
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If there are any small lumps, use an immersion blender until completely smooth. (There will still be a little bit of graininess because of the salt but there shouldn't be any flour clumps.)
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DIvide the mixture into small containers or little squeeze bottles, then stir in a drop or two of the food coloring to make desired colors. Store covered with a lid.
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*The paint will seperate a bit when sitting for a while, just give it a stir before using.
Have a potato? Cut it in half, cut some designs and make some fun Easter egg art.
