What if I DIYed a Potato Stamp?

What if Wednesday was yesterday! This week my wonderful sister-in-law Katia picked the two pins I could try: new hairstyles and a potato stamp.

The votes came in and....*drumroll*...the potato stamp won!

Yet again, it was close but I think the oddity of a potato stamp caught the people's attention. Shout out to potato man and all my potato friends! (you know who you are).

Supplies

I headed to my good ole friend Walmart for mission supplies, with my curly haired amigo. Armed with 3 potatoes, paint, socks, a t-shirt, scissors and card stock, I forged to the task ahead.

Let the carving begin

As I pulled up the post that the potato stamp pin linked to, I realized it was in french (if you speak french or want to translate it, feel free)...but I just followed the pictures and hoped for the best. I mean, how hard could

carving a potato be?

Turns out, kinda hard. I drew and cut out a heart out of paper. Then I traced it onto the potato. Then, as you can see, went to town with the knife.

The First Attempt: Heart

I dipped my tater in the red paint and tried it out a bunch. Then decided it might work better on fabrics. Due to the fact that I didn't want the design to stretch out weirdly when I put the socks on, I decided to stamp the sock while it was on my hand...

I couldn't resist the urge to pretend my hand was a sock puppet, repeatedly. I was having way too much fun. (Oh and yes I was watching New Girl in the background).

It was really difficult not to get paint all over the sock. It might have been impressive if I truly was a 6-year-old making a sock puppet.

I decided to cut the potato stamp deeper and it made all the difference. No other part of the potato was close to touching the desired stamping surface. I was able to get a cleaner stamp.

My friend Katie suggested I make Valentine's Day cards and I loved that idea! So I made a few. (you know, for all my "lovers") *wink*

Cats and Clouds

Once I felt like I had mastered the heart stamp, I ventured on to other shapes. So, of course my next thought was a cat stamp and a cloud stamp. I had to adjust the the carving after I cut out the basic shape for more definition.

I used the cat stamp on the socks. I hoped that the cats would just look chubbier and cuter when I put them on and they stretched a bit.

Side Note: Several times throughout this DIY project, one of my roommates would come in and give me an inquiring look (and it was hilarious). I don't blame them; there was paint and paper and socks and potatoes everywhere. But is a craft truly a craft if it doesn't make a mess?

Next, I stamped clouds on my shirt sleeves, which was the easiest one yet. I'm not sure if this was because of the type of fabric of the shirt or because I had been stamping for a while. (I sound like a professional: *ahem* I stamp.)

Addie's Attempt

My curly haired friend, Addie, couldn't come over last night to try out the stamps with me, so she came over today. She wanted to make some socks for her husband. (cue: aww) She tried out a turtle and an octopus/squid.

Sadly, the turtle didn't quite look like a turtle when it was stamped. But the octopus made some really cute socks! (The poor thing's head came off during the process and had to be repaired with a toothpick). Addie also used a toothpick to add little eyes to the octopus.