Kid Friendly Batik Test

So I gave the kid friendly batiking that I found at That Artist Woman's blog a shot.

I could tell immediately after reading the how-to that this had the potential for some major messiness. This is significant because I have the young ones to worry about cleaning up--which requires planning ahead of time and gives me the excuse to "test" this stuff out first. So that's just what I did.

I don't have any in progress shots because my hands were too messy to pick up the camera and take them., but here is the finished project for your viewing pleasure:

A few tips that I'd like to share about this project:

1. It was a lot of fun!
2. It was messy!
3. The instructions recommend that you water down the paint but not too much. I'd say it should be about the consistency of shampoo, maybe a little bit thinner. This, I can tell you for sure, is good information. If the paint is too watery then it's easier to use too much paint, and ...
4. When you use too much paint, the colors will run into areas that you don't want them. Note in the picture above that the bottom right corner of the design where the blue paint bled into where the orange should be.
5. After the finished product is washed and dried, the fabric is somewhat stiff. At least mine was. Perhaps it was all that extra paint I used since my paint was watered down(?). It's definitely not the kind of fabric that you're going to want to use for a pillow or blanket. I'm thinking I'll use it to make a little bag or credit card pouch or something. Line it with an orange fabric...oooh! That might be kind of cool!

In conclusion, I recommend you give this project a shot. It's not a quick project--what with all the drying time for the glue and paint--but I still found it fun.

Have you tried anything new in your free time lately?

**Edited to add:**

Check out the comments section. Gail from That Artist Woman's blog stopped by and left some suggestions for the stiff fabric conundrum. Thanks, Gail!!