Veggie Print a Halloween Banner!
Spooky Banner
By Jennie Lennick
Make Halloween Decorations with Potato and Apple Prints
A potato or apple print is a style of printmaking done by carving produce, applying ink, and printing! Most people use apples or potatoes for this printing style, but any piece of firm produce will do- try carving a carrot or a sweet potato!
This blog will demonstrate how I made this spooky Halloween banner using apples for pumpkins and potatoes for ghosts! I love how this project turned out. I hope you have fun making this easy decoration.
Gather Your Materials
- Carved Apples and Potatoes
- Acrylic Paint
- Paint Brushes
- Black Paper Cut Into Triangles
- String
- Scissors
- Hole Punch
SHOP ART SUPPLIES
Mix Your Paint
I am mixing a nice orange color on my palette for my pumpkin prints. Any acrylic paint will work for this project!
Apply Paint to Your Apple
You don’t need to do much to carve your apple print- just cut it in half, and it’s the perfect shape!
Place your apple cut side down in your paint.
Carefully pick up your apple. My cut wasn’t perfectly straight, so it didn’t collect the paint uniformly.
Use a paintbrush to spread the paint evenly across your apple.
Print With Your Apple
Take one of your black paper triangles and set it on your work surface. Gently place your apple, paint side down, on your paper.
Press with an even amount of pressure.
Carefully pick up your paper with the apple still on its surface and rub it from the back- this will help you get an even print.
Carefully lift up your apple- Voilà, you have a print!
Add Details to your Pumpkins
Add a little more paint to your palette- I am using green!
Paint details with a paintbrush. I am keeping my pumpkins simple and only adding stems, but you can make them into jack-o-lanterns if you’re feeling extra spooky!
Make Ghosts!
Use the above technique to make other creepy prints! I cut a potato into a ghost shape to print these spirits. I recommend incorporating two print designs into your banner for visual interest.
Punch Holes in Your Banner
Wait for the paint to dry completely. Once it is dry, punch holes in the corners of your triangles with a hole punch. Stay about 1 inch away from the edge to ensure your hole doesn’t rip out.
String You Banner Together
Tie your banner together with string. I like to tie each triangle together in pairs.
Decorate for Halloween!
My porch is the best! This Halloween is the first in our current apartment, and I hope we get a ton of trick-or-treaters!
Want more Halloween crafts?
- Make this bat decoration out of toilet paper tubes!
- Whip up some ghost tassels!
- Paint a pumpkin!
What are your favorite ways to decorate your home for Halloween?
Let us know in the comments below!
JENNIE LENNICK
Designer, entrepreneur, and lover of crafts! Boss Lady at Jenny Lemons in San Francisco
