Bath Paints

Written by on February 11, 2009 in Crafts, Penny Pinching - Comments Off

My girls were given THESE bath paints for Christmas.  They are tons of fun and they have easy clean up.  But I am looking at these tiny tubes wondering what is in and can I make it?  It seemed silly to be buying tub paints at $1 per tube.  Talk about money going down the drain!

So once again I hit the web.  My first hit was an awesome hit.  Family Fun dot com came through again! HERE is the link.
But alas I can’t follow directions!  But I don’t think it was too detrimental to the end product.  The only thing I omitted was the soap.  I figure they are in the tub… there is enough soap in there.
Here is the directions from the web site:
To make the paint, dissolve one envelope of unflavored instant gelatin in 1/4 cup hot water and let it sit for 10 minutes. Combine 1/2 cup cornstarch, 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 3/4 cups cold water in a saucepan, and stir until cloudy and smooth. Cook the cornstarch mixture over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until thick. Reduce heat, add the gelatin mixture and 1/4 cup mild, liquid dishwashing soap, and stir until smooth. Let cool.

Divide equal parts of the mixture into small bowls. Add several drops of different food coloring to each (light colors are easier to clean). Store the paints in airtight jars.

Keep in mind I didn’t add the liquid dishwashing soap.

I made the batch and allowed my girls to add the colors so they could have a hand in the creative process. We divided the batch into 6 portions and added about 6 drops of liquid food coloring per portion. I was impressed as too how vibrant the colors were. The only think I think I will do different text time is I think I will push the uncolored gel through a fine mesh strainer. There were some corn starch lumps in the batch. Not a big deal. I don’t think the kids notice but I did! If I were giving it as a gift I would want it to be perfect!

**photo from the Family Fun website.

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