The kids and I made our own contact paper stickers on Friday. It was a project that I had been wanting to try with them ever since I first saw this tutorial on One Pearl Button for DIY vinyl stickers. I thought it would be the perfect art project for a couple of girly girls who love stickers.
While Alli traced her sticker designs from an embroidery pattern, we drew ours free form. As with many of the arts and crafts activities we do, this project was easily adaptable to any skill level and developmental stage. We had a two-year-old version, a 6-year-old version, and a 35-year-old version at the table.
We started by taping down pieces of our contact paper shiny side up on the table (one for each of us) and drawing pictures with our sharpies. Maia drew a house, some flowers, and a girl. Daphne drew her lovely scribbles. And I drew some flowers.
Note: I would recommend protecting the table with something first. I generally use some 99 cent plastic placemats I picked up at IKEA for placing under messier craft projects at the dining table. I didn't this time, though, and we had a couple mishaps with the permanent marker going off the edge of the contact paper. Luckily I came across a post on how to remove permanent marker from everything (via Pinterest) and so will surely go clean it off the table as soon as I finish writing this....
After we were finished with our drawings, we cut out our stickers. Maia wanted to cut mine out and asked me to cut hers, so we traded for that step.
The kids wanted to try out their new stickers right away. They peeled off the paper backing from the contact paper (I got Daphne's started for her) and pressed their new stickers to colored construction paper.
I really like how transparent these contact paper stickers are. They also layer nicely.
Here's Daphne's red paper with her big red scribble sticker on top circled by additional black lines. (These days she holds up her newly created artworks, asks me to take a photo, then immediately wants to see the photo on my camera display.)
Here are my flower stickers in progress. I used a black sharpie to draw the outlines first, then filled them in with color. As you can see, we used some Sharpies as well as some Colorations brand permanent markers
—we like them both equally well.
A couple of our colors are drying out and I need to try this rubbing alcohol trick for revitalizing them.
I like how making our own stickers means there's an infinite number of possibilities and that we can create whatever interests us at the moment, rather than relying on the rather selection at the store. This way our stickers are tailor-made for us, what we are working on, and what we are interested in. We can make individual stickers or whole sticker scenes. Small stickers or big stickers.
With the paper backing still on, the stickers look opaque, but once you take off the backing, the contact paper without the sharpie drawing just blends in with the surface you place it on. Pretty neat.
Here's a sticker collage and window artwork that Maia created using some of her number and letter stickers as well as some of my flower and circle stickers.
We all had fun making and using our homemade stickers and will definitely try this again!
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