Faking it with Food Coloring

Today's post is short and sweet. Just a little tip that I learned a few years back that saves me.

I had plans for a grander, more exciting Sunday edition here at Crayons and Whimsy.... but it's been busy 'round here and Spring Break STILL isn't here!! And I can't tell you how many things I have decided, "Oh, I'll do that over Spring Break!" {Let's see what actually happens.}

As some of you know I will be spending my summer {or at least 6 weeks of it} in Louisville, Kentucky. The good news.... we just finalized our place we will be living in!! YAY!!

The bad or maybe sad news is that I still do not know one single person in the entire state {or neighboring states}, nor does my hubby. In fact, neither of us have ever set foot in Kentucky! But we are both excited to live somewhere new for a bit...but a little nervous too!

Are we allowed to use the word "live" if it is for only 6 weeks?  And sidenote: I will still be going to Vegas in July for the TpT conference so I will actually only be in the Bluegrass State for 5.5 weeks.

So that bit of fun has been taking up my time....and one of my "Over Spring Break" projects is to look into some fun weekend trips we can do while we are there! Hubby will be working Monday through Friday...as for me, I see myself in some nice little coffee shop hanging out and blogging all day. This is my vision at least. So if you are a Kentucky expert please share with me any tips or advice!

Anyway.... this quick little post isn't about Kentucky...it's about paint.... watercolor paint to be exact!

I was sick of my watercolor paints being destroyed in two uses.

I have to be honest, in my kinder world we stick to tempera paint when possible. But I like them to try different mediums and watercolors can be beautiful.

We seem to use blue and green ALL the time... the sky, the grass, the water, etc.... and so what you are left with is two holes where those paint colors should be.

Right? The orange color is still that perfect oval of color, the yellow is there, but maybe a bit darker than it should be because we haven't quite learned how to properly rinse the paintbrush..... and the green and blue are just gone!

Don't believe me?  Go look at your paints.

So my solution.... is to make blue and green watercolors whenever possible..... and with Earth Day approaching I thought this would be especially handy.

I buy that huge thing of food color at Smart and Final. This is the third school year with the same bottle. I don't use this every time, but if we are doing Earths.... or even anything where they will be painting the sky or ocean then I will make the blue and put it out in addition to the paint sets.

The color does sit on top of the paper more than the paint would... because it has a higher concentration of water, but like I said, I like them to have experience with different mediums.

Oh, and one more warning... if you are used to washable paint... well this is food coloring so it isn't going to be washable... nothing wearing an apron doesn't fix though.

So there you have it...my short and sweet tip for you.

By the way, this Earth Day Book is a little goodie I have on Teachers Pay Teachers... and it is only $1.00 for a short time only!! Check it out HERE!