Miss O is a big fan of crafting. She enjoys just about any medium. Today we decided to break out the paint. This doesn’t happen very often mostly because I just don’t like the mess potential. Sometimes we just paint on a picture from one of her giant colouring books because this is an easy way to paint and just pull out some basic paintbrushes. I want to harbour a little more creativity so I decided to create some simple paintbrushes using various items from around the house. 

Changing up the routine is a great way to get creative. Miss O also got introduced to different textures. These paint brushes took me about 15 minutes to assemble and most of that time was spent compiling items to make them with. 

What You’ll Need

• Clothespins
• Various household & crafty items  *list of ideas below
• Tape
• Paint
• Canvas (we used an easel)

Brush Ideas Pictured

1. Tin foil
2. Plastic wrap
3. Koosh ball
4. Felt
5. Velcro (soft side)
6. Plastic lacing
7. Velcro (scratchy side)
8. Pipe cleaner (sparkly)
9. Feather
10. Pom pom (big & fluffy)
11. Pom pom (small with sparkly pieces)
12. Pipe cleaner (fluffy)

Other Brush Ideas

• Bubble wrap
• Leaves
• Yarn
• Ribbon
• Kitchen sponge
• Makeup sponge
• Loofah (mesh, sponge)
• Packing peanuts
• Cardboard
• Cotton balls
• Marshmallows
• Fun fur or other fabric
• Cotton batting
• Q-tips
• Balloons
• Pasta

How-To

Use a clothespin to pinch your new paintbrush heads. Some of them may need a piece of tape wrapped around to ensure the end stays firmly grasped in the pin. 

Put out some paint and get creative!

Miss O really enjoyed using the plastic wrap. I think the sheer size of it compared to the others and the amount of paint it would spread around was the big attraction. Daddy enjoyed using the different pipe cleaners. I found the scratchy Velcro to make some really need textured designs on the page. Try it out and let me know what your kids loved to paint with!