DIY Corduroy Stamps

We love using stamps to make different patterns and designs. Stamps can be made easily at home using odd scraps left over from craft projects, or with items bound for the garbage or recycling bin. This makes stamping an affordable and eco-friendly art activity and it also teaches kids the valuable lesson of making due with what they have.

What You Need:

• glue gun or other strong glue
• small boxes or blocks
• scrap corduroy 
• washable paint

Directions
1. With a glue gun or other strong glue, adhere corduroy to small blocks or boxes. I cut up an old, worn out pair of my son's pants and used a couple of wooden blocks from our collection of over one hundred (I didn't think they'd be missed!).

2. Pour paint (we used washable kids paint) onto a pan or tray and press the stamps into it. Note: the fabric will absorb some of the paint. After pressing a stamp into the paint you might want to stamp it once or twice onto an extra piece of paper to remove a bit of the paint. This will give you a clear print that is not smudged.

My son and our home daycare friends (all age 3) created page after page of gorgeous prints. Although this is what I would call a process-based art activity, the results are beautiful! I even gave it a try and will likely use our DIY stamps for card making or scrapbooking.

Have you made your own stamps? What did you use?