Lily Stamen Paint Recipe

This lily stamen paint is a fun way to use natural colour to make a homemade play recipe!

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!