This lily stamen paint is a fun way to use natural color to make a homemade play recipe!
The following post contains affiliate links, which means that at no extra cost to you I can make a tiny bit of money to help support this blog. Thank you!I was lucky enough to receive some wonderful flowers from my husband recently, marking the anniversary of the day we first met, TEN years ago! I held on to the flowers as long as I could, until only some of the lilies were left.
As the stamens dropped their highly-staining powder, I thought I would use it to my advantage and see if I could make homemade paint with this natural dye.
Note: I have only tried this recipe with one variety of lily – different varieties may give different results!I snipped off the stamens from about four flowers and put them in a saucepan with half a cup of water.
Then I simmered the mixture gently for five minutes.
I turned off the heat and let it steep for another five minutes, before straining out the stamens with a fine sieve. To the reserved water (which is now orangey-brown), I added cornstarch to thicken it and make it into paint.
Be careful not to add too much otherwise you’ll be painting with oobleck! I probably added around one third of a cup but you may want to just add a tablespoon at a time as your water may have reduced more or less than mine when simmering. A rough guide is equal parts water and cornstarch.Note: The natural dye from the stamens may stain clothes, surfaces or anything else it touches – please take precautions!
Then it is time to get painting! There is a very faint scent to the paint – if you wanted more of a sensory experience you could always add a drop of essential oil or rose water to the mixture!
[bctt tweet=”Make homemade paint from lily stamens, water and cornstarch!”]
