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Potato Print Heart Cards

January 17, 2012 by Anna Ranson

We carved a potato to make a simple and easy heart stamp for printing onto Valentine’s day cards! 

 This method of potato printing is very simple and easy and is great for preschoolers as they can grip the potato easily and firmly as they work.

 Cut a potato in half and choose a cookie cutter that will fit inside the circumference. We used a small heart. Push it firmly into the potato and then pull it out again.


 There should be a nice, deep imprint of the shape in the potato. Use a sharp knife to cut away the outside of the shape. It doesn’t matter what it looks like, as long as the original shape is intact!


Wipe the surface of the potato until it’s fairly dry, or else it won’t absorb paint very easily and may slide all over the paper. Set out some ordinary paint into shallow dishes and demonstrate how to dip the potato into it and then print directly onto paper.

 Cakie chose to use a paintbrush to apply the paint onto the heart shape that way, and it worked very well. Either method is fine.

 She then enjoyed printing the stamp over and over on lots of sheets of paper. We used two colours which, when slightly mixed together through the process, looked really beautiful!

When they were dry I cut around the shapes and we stuck them onto some plain cards.
We don’t really “do” Valentine’s in a big way over here in the UK, but we definitely will be giving one each to Daddy, and they will make lovely cards for other occasions too!


I’m pretty sure that Cakie will do some special mark-making in at least 25 of these ALL for Daddy! Hmpff 😉

Learning links:
  • creativity: experiment with painting and printmaking using a range of media and materials, explore colour mixing
Cakie: 3 years 4 months
Pop: 21 months

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Filed Under: Art and Craft, Cards, Creativity, Valentines

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Comments

  1. Melissa @ The Chocolate Muffin Tree says

    January 17, 2012 at 11:11 pm

    Very pretty Anna! Great idea!

    • Anna @ The Imagination Tree says

      January 17, 2012 at 11:20 pm

      thanks Melissa! just simple but good old fashioned creating!

  2. Rachel T says

    January 18, 2012 at 10:53 am

    Hang on a minute. Did I just see you pop up on Apartment Therapy?
    Amazing! Surely this counts as hitting the blogging big-time, right? 😉

    So pleased to see your lovely blog getting so successful.

    • Anna @ The Imagination Tree says

      January 18, 2012 at 3:08 pm

      Oop,s reply below! Still getting used to the reply thread function!

  3. Anna @ The Imagination Tree says

    January 18, 2012 at 3:08 pm

    Haha, yes in blogging terms, I guess so! (even better if I was writing over there myself eh?!) Thanks!

  4. rebekah says

    January 19, 2012 at 1:01 pm

    Love this! Was hoping to do some potato printing with my 18 month old over the next week so this will be a great option! 🙂

    • Anna @ The Imagination Tree says

      January 21, 2012 at 12:50 am

      Great! If it doesn’t work (potatoes too slippy) then try using cookie cutters dipped in paint instead, as they are steadier and don’t slide!

  5. Jill @ A Mom With A Lesson Plan says

    January 19, 2012 at 4:24 pm

    We did potato printing last year. I love the way potato prints look!

    • Anna @ The Imagination Tree says

      January 21, 2012 at 12:50 am

      Me too! I love all print effects really- so beautiful!

  6. Kristina says

    January 23, 2012 at 6:26 pm

    These are beautiful Anna!!!

  7. Waseem says

    August 6, 2012 at 11:19 am

    I had never thought of this before…I will use it print plastic cards when i needed.

  8. Lisa Hungary tour says

    March 21, 2013 at 9:48 am

    Thats a really great idea! My daughter says: -Mom it’s soo cool! When’ll we do this? We did. It is really nice:):) Thanks for the idea!

    Lisa

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About The Imagination Tree Hello and welcome! I'm Anna, Mama of 4, early years teacher and play enthusiast from the UK! Click here to read more about me.

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