Thrifty Tip Tuesday: "Watercolor" Paints

My daughter wanted to paint a few weeks ago and we literally had no paints in the house.  No fingerpaints, no watercolors and I definitely wasn't going to let my four-year-old near my expensive acrylic paints.  I didn't want to go buy paints since they can be a little pricey (plus the idea of wrangling both kids to go to the store for paints wasn't thrilling either).

I wasn't sure what to use until she pointed to a cabinet and said, "I want to paint with egg food coloring" ("egg" because my husband dyes our scrambled eggs green sometimes in honor of Dr. Seuss).

It sounded like a good idea, but I was reluctant to dirty up a ton of bowls with "paint," so I came up with this:

I put a tiny bit of water in each muffin cup and in five of them, a few drops of food coloring.  The sixth cup I left with just water in it for rinsing the brush off between colors.

It was a hit!  It made beautiful, bright colors and my daughter had a blast painting.  And now I only have to wash an old muffin tin instead of multiple bowls!

The only suggestion I have is a) food coloring can stain clothes, so make sure your child has a smock or apron on and b) it can bleed through paper, so I had my daughter paint in a coloring book to absorb the water and color!

From my little artist

Enjoy! ~ Hilary