Paint lace with watercolors to create your own lace wall hanging. Post by Catalina Gutierrez of Redviolet Studio.
When Jean asked me to write a post for The Artful Parent, I couldn’t hide my excitement. I have followed her for so long and her books have been such an inspiration, motivating me to embrace sharing art and creativity with kids.
Writing this post brings so much joy and happiness to me, and I am very grateful for this beautiful, artsy community!
Today, I want to share with you one of my all time favorites: working with lace.
Fabric is one of my top art materials of all time. Since I was a little girl, I have been fascinated with floral patterns on my mom’s and grandma’s lace table cloths. The texture and the playful repetition kept me so distracted that it would take forever to eat my food. Blame it on the lace, right?
There are so many possibilities with fabric, and the process of working with it is always magical and unique.
The wall hangings I am sharing with you today are easy to make, inexpensive and oh, so much fun! I made this one with my boys and they really enjoyed it. I hope you give it a try!
How to Paint Lace with Kids
MATERIALS
- Lace (we got ours really cheap at a local fabric store)
- Sharpies
- Liquid watercolors
- Droppers
- Small jars or cups
- Stick
- Yarn
- Acrylic paint (optional)
- Glitter glue (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Cut lace
Start by setting up a piece of your lace on top of a paper towel. We cut ours 12 in x 22 in, but you can go bigger or smaller depending on preference.
- Draw on lace with Sharpies
Bring in your sharpies! We used as many colors as possible. Avoid using black and brown.
The boys were really into drawing/tracing the inside of the flowers they found on the lace. I have done this project with kids as young as 3.5, and for younger ones, it’s usually more about making marks and circles in different colors instead of defining any specific shape they find on the lace. So, anything goes. - Paint lace with watercolors
Once they are done with sharpies, bring in the watercolors. Fill several containers with different colors and add a little bit of water to each. Place a dropper in each color, and invite the children to paint lace by squeezing drops on top of the lace.
Kids love watching how watercolors spread out through the lace (capillary action) and how the colors interact with each other – it’s very relaxing. My boys picked the colors and it was their choice to pour them as you see them on the final piece of painted lace.
- Find a branch & assemble lace hanging
Finally, find a little branch from your backyard or park. Using a glue gun, stick it to the upper part of the painted lace. Add a piece of yarn tied to the ends of the stick for hanging and that’s it!
Hang it on a wall, door, or just about anywhere and I promise it will always get oohs and aahs! It’s a whimsical addition to any space!
Lace Painting Variations
You can also do other variations, like adding acrylics and glitter glue at the end. Or try using yarn and a plastic needle to add some weaving into the lace as we did with our lace dreamcatchers.
The possibilities are endless, but the most important thing is enjoying the process!
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7 Comments
Maria Hopp
February 18, 2018 at 1:41 amI’ll be honest, this looks so beautiful and fun, I might just try it without kids!
Jean Van't Hul
March 4, 2018 at 5:21 amDoesn’t it? I want to try it, too!
Marie G
March 26, 2018 at 10:18 amI was very happy to happen upon this post. I have been teaching art to students who
are developmentally disabled adults and was recently given a donation including a roll of paper lace and liquid water colors. Your art is beautiful ! I will try it.
Thank you so much,
Melissa Garrett
March 26, 2018 at 11:50 amHi Marie. I’m the project manager here at the Artful Parent. I’m so glad to hear that you have some perfect supplies for this project. I hope the adults you work with have a good time with the lace painting, it’s such a beautiful project, isn’t it? Thanks for reading and happy art making!
Katie
April 1, 2018 at 5:53 pmI love this idea and have been experimenting with it before I do it with my preschoolers. Does the fabric have to be 100% cotton? I’m using polyester lace and the colors aren’t very bright. Thoughts? I’ve been using liquid water colors.
Jean Van't Hul
April 8, 2018 at 5:14 amHmmm. Are you using full-strength liquid watercolors or are you diluting them?
Hillery
May 12, 2018 at 11:13 amThis is beautiful! I’m looking for paint or ink markers to paint 100% nylon lace for my friend’s wedding dress. What are your thoughts on this? I’d love your suggestion. The colors need to be deep jewel tones….teal, green, purple, dark orange, etc. Most that I’ve tried turn out too light