Tissue Paper Prints

What You Need:

• Cardboard cut into a shape such as a rectangle
• Scissors
• Colored tissue paper (Make sure that the tissue paper does NOT say non-bleeding)
• Glue stick
• White paper
• Water
• Pencil
• Optional: Rolling pin

What You Do:

1. Have your child decide on a design, picture, or pattern to create, and encourage her to draw her sketch in light pencil on the cardboard.
2. Your child may now tear or cut a variety of shapes from the tissue paper. You may want to check your tissue paper first for color transfer. Use a test scrap and add water. Place on a white piece of paper to see how much the color bleeds. Darker and brighter colors work the best. Try reds, purples, deep blue, and greens. Avoid white, light pink or light yellow.
3. Have your child glue the tissue paper onto the cardboard collage style. Set aside to dry.
4. Once dry, you are ready to start printing. Lightly wet a piece of white paper. You may need to experiment with the amount of water added. Try to avoid soaking the paper with a lot of water.
5. Place the wet paper on a flat, washable surface. Turn the tissue paper collage over (tissue paper face down) and place on top of the wet paper. Press very firmly, or roll a rolling pin over top.
6. Wait a few minutes for the colors to transfer well. Then, peel the collage from the paper.
7. Set it out to dry.

Once dry, your child will have a beautiful, tissue-paper print! The finished product often looks more like a watercolor than a standard print. Expect a certain amount of color mixing and running after lifting the collage from the wet paper. If your child becomes frustrated with this, gently suggest collaging a more abstract design or pattern creation.