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How to Make Puffy Paint – Easy Homemade Recipes

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What is puffy paint? It’s exactly what it sounds like; paint that is puffy! Also known as dimensional paint, it is a brightly colored, thick paint that dries to a spongy, puffy finish.

It’s easy and inexpensive to make your own puffy paint. It’s a fun activity you can do with children, and the ingredients are materials that you likely already have in your home.

Jump to Recipe

What Are the Ingredients for DIY Puffy Paint 

The ingredients for puffy paint can vary slightly depending on the recipe you’re using, but at the most simple you’ll need three basic things: shaving cream, white glue, and food coloring. 

You don’t even have to use specific brands. Inexpensive supplies you can get at the dollar store will work just fine.

Other items that are useful to have are disposable cups or bowls to mix the paints, popsicle sticks, plastic squeeze bottles and/or zip-close plastic bags, paintbrushes, heavy paper or card stock, and a dropcloth or cover to protect your work surface.

Ok Let’s Make it!

No matter which puffy paint recipe your try, it’s a good idea to get your materials together and prepare your work area.

You’ll want to put something down to protect your table. Puffy paints are heavier than regular liquid paints, and the food color can stain some surfaces.

Disposable plastic tablecloths or even a shower curtain liner from any discount store works great for this.

Puffy Paint for Kids

If you’re working with little kids, it’s always a good idea to have them wear a “paint shirt” or apron to protect their clothing.

Puffy paint should easily wash out of most clothing, but it’s never a bad idea to wear something that is okay to get a little messy.

Disposable cups or bowls, made of either paper or plastic, are handy for mixing the paint. You can use cheap plastic bowls, but again, food coloring and certain paints can stain some plastics.

If you don’t want to use your kitchen measuring cups for this project, just measure out the desired amount of water into a disposable cup.

Use a marker to make a line showing the top of the water. Then write the measurement amount at the line, and discard the water. Now you can use this cup to measure out the correct amount of glue, shaving cream, etc.

Popsicle sticks or disposable chopsticks are great for mixing, as well as for using as a paintbrush. You can use paintbrushes with puffy paint, but if you want to make the artwork as puffy as possible it might be easier to dab it on with a stick.

Zip-close plastic bags or any small plastic container that has a lid are useful to store any leftover puffy paint.

Unused puffy paint will only last for approximately 3-5 days for best results, so don’t mix too much at one time.

Puffy paint recipes that contain flour will last a few days longer than the recipe that is mostly white glue and shaving cream.

Puffy paints work best on light card stock or heavy paper such as watercolor paper. Even paper plates can be a fun painting surface.

Puffy paints are heavier than water-based paints, and won’t stay nice and puffy on regular drawing paper.

Lastly, keep a roll of paper towels handy, just in case!

Homemade Puffy Paint With Shaving Cream

This method is the easiest way to make puffy paint, using only three common ingredients.

You will need:

  • 1/4 cup white glue 
  • 1/4 cup shaving cream (any brand, just make sure it is the foamy kind, not shaving gel)
  • Food colorings

Here’s how to mix it

Pour the white glue and shaving cream into a small bowl and use a stick to thoroughly mix them together.

Take your time and don’t mix them too fast. You don’t want to “deflate” the shaving cream.  Once they’re mixed together, add the food coloring and stir it in.

For fairly vibrant colors try 10-12 drops, to begin with, then add a couple drops more if you want more color. Mix up a few colors, and get ready to have some fun.

Now it’s time to paint! 

With this recipe, it’s easiest to use a popsicle stick or a paintbrush with wide fairly stiff bristles. The should dollop the paint on your paper or cardstock, instead of trying to brush it on as you would with traditional paints.

To avoid having to continually clean a paintbrush while working, keep one stick or brush in each color while painting.

Once your painting is done, it needs to dry overnight. With this recipe, the paint will flatten a little bit as it dries, so pile the puffy paint up nice and fluffy.

The colors will look a little darker once they’re dried, so if you want a pastel look on your painting, mix your paint color a little bit lighter than you’d like.

DIY Puffy Paint With Acrylic Paint

This recipe won’t be quite as puffy as using shaving cream, but the results are still puffy and colorful. One advantage of this recipe is that the finished work will be harder than the shaving cream based paint after it is fully dried.

You will need:

  • 2 tablespoons of salt
  • 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
  • Acrylic paint
  • Water

Here’s how to mix it:

Mix the salt and flour in a small cup. You could even use a small whisk to make sure they’re completely mixed up.

Then add a little bit of acrylic paint, and stir. Add some more paint if you’d like until you get the desired color. The mixture will be the consistency of a thick paste at this point. Add a teaspoon or two of water, and mix that in. If you need more water, add it just a little bit at a time. Mix this together, adding more water and/or paint, until the paint is smooth and the consistency of cake frosting.

It’s important to use acrylic paint for this recipe. Watercolor paints aren’t pigmented enough, and are too watery.

Oil-based paints will cause the puffy paint to separate.

You don’t need to use expensive paint; any cheap acrylic craft paint will work great for this. Just for fun, experiment with using acrylic paints with metallic or pearlized finishes!

This paint is much thicker than the shaving cream recipe.

While you can certainly dollop it on with a stick or paintbrush, it might be easier to transfer the paint into a plastic squeeze bottle or zip-close plastic bag.

If you’re using the plastic bag, move all the paint to the bottom of the bag, and snip off one corner of the bag.

Now it can be used like a pastry piping bag. You can pipe the paint onto your paper directly from a squeeze bottle, or squeeze it out of the plastic bag like you’re decorating a cake.

You’ll need to let your artwork dry overnight on a flat surface. With this recipe, the colors should stay pretty true to however you mixed them. The salt in this recipe adds a little bit of texture and sparkle to the finished piece. 

Extra Big Homemade Puffy Paint

This recipe is a bit of a hybrid between the two prior recipes. For best results, you should use the squeeze bottle or plastic bag method to pipe the paint out instead of using a paintbrush. The end results of this recipe hold their puffy shape beautifully. This recipe makes a larger batch, that can be divided among several cups to make different colors of paint.

You will need:

  • 3/4 cup of shaving cream
  • 1/4 cup of white glue 
  • 1/4 cup of all purpose flour
  • Food coloring

Here’s how to mix it:

With this recipe, the order and method you use to mix the ingredients are important. First, mix the shaving cream and white glue together.

Then, add the all-purpose flour just a couple of spoonfuls at a time, fully mixing each spoonful in before adding more.

Next, add your food coloring, several drops at a time, until you get the shade you want.

If the paint seems too thick, add a little water to get it to a more usable consistency. Don’t add more than one tablespoon of water in total, though.

If you add too much water, the result will flatten the paint a little bit and the dried texture won’t be as hard.

Now you can transfer the paint to a squeeze bottle or plastic bag, and have fun painting! You can use a popsicle stick or paintbrush with this paint, but because it’s so thick the piping method is easier and more precise. Let your finished piece dry on a flat surface overnight. 

How Long Does it Last?

Puffy paint really works best if you use it as soon as you make it. If you have leftover puffy paint, it can be stored in an airtight container, or in a sealed zip-closure bag.

The first recipe using shaving cream, white glue, and food coloring will only last a couple of days before it becomes gummy and unusable.

The recipes that include all-purpose flour as one of the ingredients will last a bit longer.

Tips and Ideas

Puffy paint is easy to make and fun to use, both for adults and small children. Here are a few useful tips on using homemade puffy paint.

Puffy paint does work best on heavy paper or card stock. Using it on regular drawing paper can cause the paper to wrinkle and warp.

Card stock comes in a variety of colors, which can make your colored paint look even more vibrant. Brightly colored puffy paint designs on black or dark blue backgrounds are especially eye-catching.

You can use either liquid or gel food coloring to tint your paint. Gel food coloring will give you more vibrant colors, and you won’t need to use as much.

Liquid food coloring will take more drops to get the shade you want, but you have a little more control over the shade of color you’re trying to create.

Both liquid and gel food colors will produce great results, so have fun playing around with them!

Puffy paint can be used for a variety of art projects. It’s not limited to painting on paper! Try painting designs on smooth rocks.

Decorate empty glass jars and bottles to make pretty storage items.

Painting with puffy paint on clear Christmas ornaments is a great activity for kids, and they can be given as holiday gifts. You can even decorate plastic Easter eggs with puffy paint.

How to Clean Up Your Puffy Paint

Accidents happen, and that usually means some kind of mess that will need to be cleaned up. Fortunately, homemade puffy paint cleans up easily from most surfaces. 

Warm, soapy water should be enough to clean up most messes.

Having a disposable plastic tablecloth over your work surface is the most efficient way to keep puffy paint from getting on your table.

If you do have a spill that leaves food color residue on your table a magic eraser cleaning sponge does a great job! Another method for cleaning up faint stains is to make a paste with cool water and baking soda. 

Spread it on the soiled area and leave it for a minute or so. Then lightly scrub the area with a sponge, and rinse it clean. The baking soda paste works well to get any faint food coloring residue from your hands, too. 

If puffy paint gets on your clothes, in most cases you can let it dry and then just pick it off.

Then launder as you regularly would. Paint brushes can be cleaned with hot water and mild dish detergent. Clean brushes promptly after use, especially if you’ve used them with puffy paint that contains glue as one of the ingredients.

It is recommended to use disposable plastic or paper cups to mix your puffy paint. If you do use non-disposable containers, keep them exclusively for crafting needs, and not for food storage.

How to Make Puffy Paint
Print Pin

Puffy Paint Recipe

This fun and easy 3-ingredient puffy paint recipe is sure to be a hit!
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/4 Cup White glue
  • 1/4 Cup Shaving Cream (Any Brand)
  • 12 Drops Food Coloring

Notes

Pour the white glue and shaving cream into a small bowl and use a stick to thoroughly mix them together. Take your time and don’t mix them too fast. You don’t want to “deflate” the shaving cream. Once they’re mixed together, add the food coloring and stir it in. For fairly vibrant colors try 10-12 drops, to begin with, then add a couple drops more if you want more color. Mix up a few colors, and get ready to have some fun.

 

Craftsy Review – Is it Worth It?

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What Is Craftsy?

If you’re reading this you probably already know what it is. But just in case you’re a long-time follower that hasn’t heard of it, then let me share my Craftsy review with you. I think you’ll like it.

Craftsy.com is a creative resource website offering classes and resources for a wide variety of artistic interests. If there’s any creative endeavor you’ve always wanted to try, there’s a good chance Craftsy has a class covering that subject! The topics include (but are not limited to) popular crafts such as knitting, sewing, and baking, along with unique subjects such as woodworking, paper crafting, and various art techniques.

A Craftsy membership grants a subscriber access to over 1500 classes in 20 different categories, downloadable patterns, and recipes, along with the opportunity to participate in various Livestream events.  If you are unsure about becoming a member, Craftsy also offers a number of free classes. You can also purchase classes one at a time, without committing to an annual membership.

If you’re short on time I’ll just say this. Craftsy is definitely worth the cost. There are some good things and bad things but overall it’s great.

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Classes Offered by Craftsy


Craftsy offers well over 1500 classes on a wide variety of creative topics.  That sounds a little overwhelming, doesn’t it? Thankfully, the Craftsy website is very user-friendly, and they have organized the class listings to make it easy to find hobbies that interest you!

The classes are arranged under the headings of Fabric Crafts, Yarn Crafts, Food, Art, and Living. There are numerous subcategories under each of these headings. For example, under the heading “Fabric Crafts”, you’ll find subcategories of Quilting, Sewing, and Embroidery.  

It can be overwhelming to find the “right” class for your interests.  For example: in the category of “Knitting”, there are 171 different classes! They range from a variety of techniques to specific projects.

Craftsy makes it easy to narrow your choices if you are looking for a particular instruction, though. Still using the “Knitting” category as an example, you can refine your search by choosing topics such as “Scarves and Shawls” or “Lace & Brioche Knitting”. 

Many of these classes include bonus materials, such as PDF documents with patterns or step-by-step instructions, and once you buy or upload a class you can go on the Craftsy website any time and watch it again and again.

The Craftsy instructors are all qualified experts on the topics they’re teaching. Links to each class often include introductory bios for the instructor. You’ll find many professional authors, teachers, artists, and craft business owners who are ready to share the wealth of their knowledge.

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Craftsy’s Classes and Video Quality

There is no shortage of online DIY videos available for just about any skill you’d want to learn. It can be frustrating because not all instructional videos are made the same!  The videos on Craftsy are clearly produced by professional videographers and lighting teams. They’re bright and easy to see all the details.  Perhaps most importantly, the sound quality of their video classes is excellent! There are few things more frustrating about watching instructional videos than not being able to hear everything or understand what the instructor is saying.

 

Craftsy Cost – Their Pricing Plans

Basic membership to craftsy.com is $8.99 per month or a slightly discounted rate of $89.99 per year. This gives you access to all of the online video classes, printable bonus materials, a weekly email newsletter with ideas and helpful tips, and access to occasional live online instructional events. Additionally, you can share your Craftsy membership with up to three friends or family at no additional cost to you or the “guest members” you invite. That’s like getting four memberships for one price! This is a great value, especially for families with creative youngsters.

The annual price for a Craftsy members ship of $89.99 seems a little steep at first, but consider how many classes you or your family might be interested in purchasing. Prices for premium classes on craftsy.com range from $4.99 to $69.99, with the average seeming to be around $30. Three or four classes will probably cost you the same amount as an annual membership (which gives you access to over 1,000 classes).  While craft supply stores and local yarn stores routinely offer in-person classes, they typically cost $50 to $100, and you won’t have access to video to “retake” the class as often as you’d like.

 

Is Craftsy Right For You?

A Craftsy membership is a great resource for anyone who enjoys creating and learning. If you are always wanting to learn new skills, or improve on your current hobbies, this is a fantastic website.

The classes are best suited to people who are comfortable learning online and don’t feel the need for the social aspects of being in an “in-person” class.

The convenience of being able to watch the classes anytime is perfect for people who have busy work schedules, or who work shifts that don’t coincide with most in-person class times.

One special area of note is a category called “Fun For Kids”. These classes aren’t necessarily geared towards being specifically for children, but they are simple and enjoyable for any creative kids. These suggested classes could be a great resource for home-schooled children, or to keep creative minds engaged over holiday breaks.

If you’re ready to join you can use my special link below to sign up.

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Small Things That Could Be Improved

The range of topics and quality of instruction on Craftsy is outstanding. However, there are a few minor things I feel could improve the website:

Some of the classes have a tab for “class discussion”. It’s an area where students can ask questions and offer tips among themselves. It doesn’t seem to be available for every class, though. It would be nice if that was a standard feature for all classes.

Another helpful feature would be if classes shared links to purchase suggested materials. It would be a timesaver to be able to purchase a class and the materials all on one page. At the very least, a page with links to suggested suppliers could be helpful.

Finally, there isn’t much of an online social aspect to being a Craftsy member. It would be fun if there was a way to share photos of completed projects from classes, and to connect with other members.

Conclusion: Is Craftsy Worth It?

Given the wide variety and professional quality of the classes offered, I think Craftsy is a good value, especially with the option to share a premium membership with up to three friends or family members.

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Being able to try free classes, or just buy one or two of interest is a great way to give Craftsy a try if you’re unsure about paying for an entire year. If you’re a person who is comfortable with online classes and is always curious to try new skills or hobbies, you will love Craftsy. 

Evelyn Wood’s Vintage Sewing School Review – Is it Worth It?

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I signed up for Vintage Sewing School by Evelyn Wood a few months ago. I loved her YouTube videos and wanted to get more specific instructions. There are a lot of good reviews online but I don’t usually trust those. If you know me then you know I like reviewing things myself and getting my own experience to share with you. 

So the big question is if Vintage Sewing School is worth it? I’m going to share my honest reviews of it here in this post. Some of the other Vintage Sewing School reviews online are so good that they seem to be fake but after checking it out myself I now think they’re real. It’s so hard to trust things online these days.

If you’re short on time I’ll give you the final verdict here of this Vintage Sewing School review here…

I strongly believe that paid training and content for sewing is the way to go. You get so much more detail from creators and teachers when you pay for the content. I have reviewed other online sewing schools and I have to say that I like Vintage Sewing School… but I like Creativebug better. If you are here to make a quick decision then just sign up for Creativebug AND Vintage Sewing School. Evelyn is an absolute gem. Her courses are very easy to follow and her personality draws you in. She has formal training in sewing unlike some of the other sewists that are teaching online. 

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How Much Does Vintage Sewing School Cost?

The Vintage Sewing Membership costs $19 per month. This is a reasonable price to pay for an online sewing school in my opinion. This is in line with all of the other sewing schools online. The big difference for me with Vintage Sewing school is that it’s worth more than what she charges.

Other schools charge about the same price but their lessons are much quicker and don’t explain things as in-depth.

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Evelyn Wood’s Vintage Sewing School Courses and Projects

I loved her courses. Some of her videos can get a little bit long-winded if you’re not a beginner. You can skip through some of the sections if you already know the terminology.

The projects she does are a lot of fun. You can see that there’s a difference between the free YouTube videos and the videos inside the membership. She really does pay attention to all the details.

Evelyn said in one of her videos that the overall goal was to be able to sew without instructions or follow-alongs. This is what it’s all about.

Something else I find nice is that Vintage Sewing School has a focus on sustainability. Other sewing schools that I’ve joined didn’t have this as a focus at all (with the exception of Creativebug).

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Vintage Sewing School Coupons and Discounts

I sent an email to Evelyn and her customer service responded quickly to say that they didn’t currently have any coupon codes. Don’t let that stop you though. She does have a free beginners course that would be an amazing place to start if you’re new. If you’re not new to sewing then you can go straight for a paid program. Some things really are worth paying for!

Vintage Sewing School Customer Service

Vintage Sewing School is a big program with a lot of members. With that said, I think their customer service is amazing. I’m skeptical if it’s actually Evelyn sending emails or not because there are so many members that I don’t think she would have time. It still feels personal and they solve any issues very quickly though. I was impressed.

Overall Conclusion for Vintage Sewing School

I say you should definitely sign up for the free trial to see for yourself if you’re a beginner. If you’re not a beginner then go straight for the gold which is the full membership!

Evelyn seems to be a genuine person and I love her fun personality.

Her teaching skills are great. She doesn’t have a shady background like other sewing schools (not to mention names but you may have heard about the other people doing bad business). Give Evelyn a chance and I think you’ll come to the same conclusion.

This wraps up the Vintage Sewing School review. I hope this has been helpful for you! Post your thoughts in the comments!

Creativebug Review – Is It Worth the Cost?

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I want to mention that if you make a purchase through an affiliate link, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. But, this wouldn’t ever stop me from giving my completely honest review of Creativebug. 

If you’ve been a reader for a while you know I don’t hold back on giving my honest opinion.

Before joining Creativebug I had A LOT of questions, and I’m sure you do too.

Let me give you the short answer on Creativebug here in case you’re in a rush for time.

Overall, it’s great. If you are truly still on the fence after this article then you should sign up for the FREE TRIAL so you can get an idea for yourself though. When you sign up for a year of Unlimited Plus, the current price is just $5.95 per month.

Okay now, let’s get into the details so you can see why I’m recommending it.

So Exactly What is Creativebug?

Creativebug is an online learning platform for everything to do with arts and crafts. There are thousands of these classes. I was more interested in sewing, quilting, jewelry making, and recipes. But, I had a look at most of what they had to offer. I was really busy going through the website for the past three months. My husband was getting tired of me spending all of my time watching these videos haha.

So what compares to Creativebug? There are only two other options in my opinion. The first is YouTube and the other is Craftsy. YouTube is free but it’s less instructional. You can learn things but it’s more just for entertainment. There’s usually very little structure when it comes to teaching on YouTube because everyone has their own courses and classes they are trying to sell. The great thing about Creativebug and Craftsy is that you get access to very instructional and informative videos for such a low cost.

 

Is Creativebug Legit?

Creativebug is a legit company. They have a lot of online marketing and promotions which may get people asking questions, but overall, it’s a great company. I joined for 3 months and then canceled just to see if I could. The only reason I canceled was to be able to write this review and to make sure they honored their cancelation policy. I rejoined because I liked it so much though.

One thing that is good to know is that they offer a money-back guarantee. I always find this to be a good sign from a company when they offer a money-back guarantee.

Creativebug vs Craftsy – Which is Better?

The main difference between the two is you can buy Craftsy lessons individually. The best thing to do though is to become a member. On Creativebug, all you need is your membership. Both have great courses and lessons. I am going to write a full comparison between the two of these very soon.

How Many Classes Does Creativebug Have?

Creativebug has well over 1,000 classes and they are adding more every single month. It’s possible that they have over 2,000 classes by now. I can’t find an exact number but all of their classes are taught by experts in their respective fields. I think this is the most important part. It’s not really about the number of classes but about the quality of the classes.

Creativebug’s classes are informative and entertaining, and you KNOW you’re getting good information because the instructors are vetted. This is unlike YouTube or Skillshare for instance. On YouTube or Skillshare, you have no idea if the person is knowledgeable or not.

This isn’t to say that Creativebug doesn’t have many classes at all though. They do and you’ll never get bored. If for some reason you do get bored you can cancel your membership at any time.

How to Sign Up for Creativebug

It’s quite easy to sign up for the free trial. Click Here to start the free trial.

You should be able to get a 60-day free trial with the link above.

I strongly suggest going with the plus version of Creativebug for a year because you can end up getting a big discount. There’s so much inside your membership that you won’t get bored and it’s only $5.95 per month with the year-long version. If you decide you don’t like it before the free trial is up then you can simply cancel the membership.

How Much Does Creativebug Cost?

Creativebug offers three different pricing levels.

They have the basic version, the Unlimited, Unlimited Plus, and Unlimited Plus Annual.

The Unlimited plan is $7.95/mo and is the lowest tier.

The Unlimited Plus plan is $9.95/mo when you sign up monthly and only $5.95 per month when you sign up for the annual version.

The difference between Unlimited vs Unlimited Plus plan is at the bottom of the image.  You get discounts on Joann fabrics and you also get to keep one class per month forever. Keeping the classes is valuable by itself. But, I like the Unlimited Plus plan the best because the annual version lets you save $23 per year or more on the cost. If you already like Joann, then it’s a great idea to go with the Unlimited Plus for that as well.

Is It Easy to Cancel Creativebug

It’s really easy to cancel. You don’t have to call them or do any tricks like some companies. Simply go to your account profile, click on Billing, and click Cancel.

The Final Verdict

If you’re on the fence about Creativebug, I say just do it. You won’t regret it. If you do regret it then you can simply cancel during your free trial period. I would also like to hear your thoughts on Creativebug. This wraps up my Joann Creativebug review!