We haven’t done tape resist art in a long time, so it seemed like the right moment to return to an old idea in a new form. A cold winter blast has me thinking of lovely winter birch trees, always my favorite, and tape resist is the perfect way to create these white tree trunks.
First, create the outline of trunks and branches on white paper by covering with tape. Any masking tape or patterned washi tape will work fine – you’re going to remove it at the end. Travis was surprised when we made our trees blue to start (but shh, don’t spoil the surprise for your child yet!).
Next we painted over the tape and the rest of the paper for a blue sky background. We used tempera paint, but you’ll get a more wintery, softer feel if you use watercolors.
Let the paint dry, then it’s time to peel back the tape for the big surprise – white-trunked trees!
Travis was so excited to see our birches, and helped sketch on little black lines in the bark.
As the finishing touch, decorate your trees – we used buttons and little leaf cutouts.
He told me the first picture was done, but then got more impish with the second, layering on big piles of glue and buttons… Love watching this kiddo’s creativity!
joyful parenting 