Creative Ideas from Martha Stewart

This time of year it seems like most parents are indoors with their children due to the cold weather.  Some parents may start to get cabin fever or just plain bored.  Here is a creative project you, as parents, can do while you are cooped up inside all day, every day!

Potato-Print Baby Clothes

Tools and Materials
Potatoes (white potatoes, russets, or red potatoes)
Permanent fabric paint
Sharp knives
Foam brushes
Paintbrushes in various sizes
Cutting board
Forks
Vegetable peeler
Paper towels
Child-size hangers
Melon baller
Fine brushes
One-piece or prewashed T-shirts
Ironing board
Iron

Ladybug How-To

1. Peel potato to create a smooth edge. To make the leaf, use a chef's knife to cut a large potato in half lengthwise.
2. Use a paring knife to carve a tear-drop leaf shape out of other half.
3. To create the ladybug body, carve a semicircle out of the other half for the body or cut a small red potato in half and in half again. For the head, use a melon ball scooper to cut out a circle for a round stamp.
4. Place potato stamps on a paper towel to absorb excess moisture. Do this only the first time you use stamp.
5. Apply paint to the flesh of the potato with a foam brush. You can use green for the leaf, red for the body atop the leaf, and black for the head.
6. Slide a cutting board inside the shirt to block paint from bleeding through the back. Press the potato stamp firmly onto the shirt. Stick a fork in larger potatoes for stability when stamping.
7. Draw a green stem with a detailing brush.
8. Stamp another ladybug body and head atop stem.
9. Draw black antennae with a detailing brush. Using the end of the brush, add small dots to the body and end of each antennae.
10. Heat-set the shirt by ironing on the front with a hot iron after stamping. For a design with a lot of detail and "puffy" painted areas, iron the back as well.

Gator How-To

1. Peel a potato to create a smooth edge. Cut two large potatoes in half and use to make five potato stamps: a rectangle for the body, four green feet, tail shape, mouth, and a small triangle for spikes on the back. Place potato stamps on a paper towel to absorb excess moisture. Do this only the first time you use the stamp.
2. Apply paint to the flesh of the potato with a foam brush.
3. Slide a cutting board inside the shirt to block paint from bleeding through the back. Press the potato stamp firmly onto the shirt. Stick a fork in larger potatoes for stability when stamping.
4. Dot black eyes with the back of the paint brush.
5. Dot white teeth with the back of the paint brush.
6. Heat-set the shirt by ironing on the front with a hot iron after stamping. For a design with a lot of detail and "puffy" painted areas, iron the back as well.

For more fun t-shirt ideas, read: Potato-Print Baby Clothes - Martha Stewart Kids