We have a number of plastic cards floating around our house. My kids love collecting hotel key cards and used gift cards. I was starting to weed through their growing collection, when I remembered one of my favorite painting assignments. It was a creative painting project where we were encouraged to use common items to explore paint. I’m sure you know where I am going with this…creating Credit Card Art. I love the effect that the scraping creates and the layers of colors that can be achieved.
The kids were excited to begin and asked if they could paint with all the rainbow colors. It’s almost Saint Patrick’s Day so the perfect time to paint rainbows. The girls did voice their concern for the coveted plastic cards, and wanted to make sure that they would look clean and paint free when we were done. After I assured them that no harm would come to the cards, they were ready to begin. Who knew that plastic was so treasured!
The girls arranged the rainbow of colors on a cereal box palette and they began scraping. We also choose to paint on the printed side of cereal boxes and the subscription cards that come in magazines. We primed the cereal boxes earlier. I love that both papers are free and we were able to reuse something that is normally tossed in the recycle bin. I’m sure that you have noticed, but we go through LOTS of paper in our house.
I love how these turned out. Notice the difference between the top pictures which were painted on primed cereal boxes and the last picture that was painted on the subscription cards. Since the cereal boxes were primed they have a slick surface and the paint glides across creating more depth. The subscription cards absorbed the paint creating an opaque quality. I’m sure that we will be revisiting this again soon if I’m allowed to borrow their plastic again!
I will be linking to these parties.
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Brilliant idea! I teach art to pre-schoolers during the summer and we are always exploring different things to use as our “brush.” Love this idea. So will my little artists! I am visiting via The Chocolate Muffin Tree.
I also publish an online women’s magazine with my best friend called Mermaids of the Lake. Will go look for you on FB now.
Thanks for stopping by. I love exploring different way to paint, and seeing what kids come up with. I don’t have a FB page yet but maybe soon.
I love finding new ways to paint without using a brush. This is a great one and with the rainbow colors it’s so beautiful.
Kids would love this one. I’ve never met a kid that doesn’t like to play with paint! How fun!
Thanks for sharing at the For the Kids Friday Link Party! I look forward to having you back this Friday!
I love your Link Parties! Thanks for hosting.
Wow! What a fantastic effect. We’ve never tried this before, can’t wait to give it a go. Thanks for linking up with the Play Academy.
It was so fun. We will be revisiting this technique again soon.
So pretty! Love this idea, it would definitely be a hit in our house!
This was such a fun project and the end result looks is wonderful. Thanks for stopping by.
I love this idea. It is really pretty in the end.
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Great idea! I think I’ll also have to try thwapping the paint with the plastic card to see how it splatters.
I’m writing an article about credit card crafts, and I’m hoping to get in touch with you re: permission to use one of your photos of your credit card art. I would credit your site, of course. Please let me know if this is possible! Thanks.
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What did you use to prime the cereal boxes that made it shiny and slick?
I just used regular house wall primer because that it was we had on hand. It was Kilz brand. I am sure that any paint/primer would work since you just need to cover up the cereal box logos.
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This is “wicked cool” we are so doing this tomorrow!!!
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what kind of paint – acrylic or tempera? Thanks.
We used acrylic, but tempera works just as well. Let me know if you have another questions.
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Did you get paint on the cards, like using them as a paintbrush, or did you plop the paint and just spread it with the cards?
tried this today but it didn’t look as good. I think because I put blobs all at same time and I used a canvas. Tonight, in the playroom, I will do pain blobs one at a time so all colors dont blend to brown! cool idea!!
Glad you enjoyed the process! By just adding 1 or 2 colors at a time you should avoid the “muddy” colors.
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I tried this with a Special Needs class and it was a real hit! I gessoed heavy cardboard first and went around the group adding one color to their paper at a time so they could focus completely on each and the changes as they crossed. In a follow-up session we dipped plastic cups into darker acrylic paint and layed circles over the credit card art to give it a more rhythmic feel. Thanks for the great idea!!