Low-Mess Mittens Painting

Clara and Emily loved painting these mitten pictures, and there was very little mess involved! The secret is to use bleeding art tissue, which is available at any art supply store and is very inexpensive.
I cut out some mitten shapes from the bleeding art tissue paper and arranged them on top of some very thick water color paper. Since the tissue paper is so thin, I cut out all four mittens at the same time by layering the paper. Very quick and easy!
Then the girls used water to paint on top of the art bleeding tissue paper.
We were having so much fun with this!
Wait for the tissue paper to dry, then peel off the tissue paper and you’ll have a great reveal! I was surprised how vibrant the colors turned out.
Repeat the process with the second mitten. Emily thought this was so cool!
We added a little trim to our mittens. You know, since we were having so much fun, and all!
Outline your paintings with black marker for a nice finishing touch.
Beautiful, frugal, and without all the mess of paint!

Comments

  1. Wow, that is so cool and creative. the girls look like they were having so much fun.

  2. I have some of that tissue paper and we haven't used it yet. Maybe this week.

    I LOVE Clara's apron. Did you make it?

  3. Never heard of bleeding tissue paper. Looks like they are having a great time.

  4. Dear Valerie,

    I've had a bleeding nose which I stopped with a tissue, but this is entirely different!

    Love,
    Mark

  5. Wonder Mom says

    Have you ever done this with just regular tissue paper? Hmmmm- I might do a little science experiment later…

  6. Just Breathe says

    Those are really pretty. Your girls look so happy.

  7. Raising a Happy Child says

    I have never seen about this art paper either – I am impressed with how great the result looks. I admit I am tempted to try with regular tissue paper too 🙂

  8. Valerie @ Frugal Family Fun Blog says

    @ Christy — Clara's apron was a gift from a friend of mine for Christmas, and she gave Emily and me matching ones too. She ordered them from an Etsy store. If I can find the link, I'll pass it along to you!

    @ Wonder Mom — Sorry to say, but regular tissue paper will not work for this. However, the bleeding art paper is very inexpensive and one pack will last a VERY long time. The girls had so much fun with this and I'm sure we'll use it for many other projects!

  9. Our Little Family says

    Oh, this is SO cool! I've never even HEARD of bleeding tissue paper. Definitely will have to look for it next time we're out!

    They turned out great and yes, SO vibrant!

  10. Catherine Anne says

    I love this idea

  11. Love this! Will see if I can find it here in SA.

  12. Naturalearthfarm says

    What a sweet idea. Thank you for sharing.
    Warm wishes,
    Tonya

  13. those are some rockin' mittens! i love the black outlines. it really makes the colors pop!

  14. I love this idea!

  15. maryanne @ mama smiles says

    I've never heard of this kind of paper either, but it looks like something my kids would really enjoy! I'll have to look for some on our next craft store outing…

  16. How fun! Thanks !

  17. I'll have to see if I can find this. It looks to be pretty cool.

  18. Wonder Mom says

    Thanks for the info Val! Guess I'll need to pick up a pack of the bleeding tissue paper next time I'm near the craft store…

  19. I've never heard of that type of tissue paper. Interesting. Cute … and I love that the baby is really getting into participating. They really look like they're having a lot of fun.

  20. Deborah (Teach Preschool) says

    This is soooo cool! You could do this with heart shapes for Valentine's day too! I love it!

  21. Wow I love it, had never heard of that type of tissue paper.

  22. Thanks for your input on our experience. 🙂 We did have a great time with this activity even if it was not quite what I had anticipated.

Trackbacks

  1. […] Little bit of Low-Mess Mitten Painting might be fun so I just might include it under creative art […]

  2. […] heard of bleeding art tissue paper until I read Valerie’s deceptively titled post “Low-Mess Mitten Painting” on her Frugal Family Fun blog.  I couldn’t wait to try this new Low-Mess style of […]