{"title":"How to Make Puffy Paint With Shaving Cream, Glue and Flour","canonicalUrl":"https://www.craftingstepbystep.com/crafts/how-to-make-puffy-paint","category":{"slug":"crafts","name":"Crafts"},"creator":{"name":"The Artful Parent","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa5A44a4rnjK0ykI8PLxdcA","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkEa1Lx-iRs"},"tldr":"How to make puffy paint with flour, shaving cream, glue and food coloring. Squeeze it from bags for raised pictures that dry soft and puffy.","quickAnswer":"How to make puffy paint with flour, shaving cream, glue and food coloring. An easy project: about 40 minutes, plus 12 hours to dry or set. Materials cost about $4 to $8. You need 12 things, including all-purpose flour, foaming shaving cream and white school glue. The 10 steps start with measure Flour Into a Bowl for Puffy Paint, add Shaving Cream to the Puffy Paint Flour and stir White Glue Into the Puffy Paint Mixture.","totalDurationSeconds":360,"videoDurationSeconds":360,"difficulty":"easy","project":{"difficulty":"easy","projectMinutes":40,"waitMinutes":720,"totalMinutes":760,"estimatedCost":{"currency":"USD","min":4,"max":8},"yield":"a batch for 4 to 6 pictures"},"tools":["large mixing bowl","small bowls","spatula","measuring cups","scissors","tray or craft mat"],"materials":["all-purpose flour","foaming shaving cream","white school glue","food coloring or liquid watercolors","sandwich bags or piping bags","card stock"],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Measure Flour Into a Bowl for Puffy Paint","text":"Put 1 cup of all-purpose flour into a large mixing bowl. Pick a big bowl. Shaving cream takes up a lot of room and you want space to stir without it spilling over. Have your measuring cup, a sturdy spatula and the shaving cream close by. Kids love helping measure, so let them level off the flour."},{"number":2,"title":"Add Shaving Cream to the Puffy Paint Flour","text":"Measure 3 cups of foaming shaving cream and add it to the flour. Press it into the cup to get a real cupful, then scoop it out with the spatula. The foam is what makes this paint puff, so use the classic foam kind from a can. Gel shaving creams do not hold the air the same way."},{"number":3,"title":"Stir White Glue Into the Puffy Paint Mixture","text":"Add 1 cup of white school glue. Stir gently until there are no dry streaks of flour left and the mix looks like fluffy frosting. Fold rather than beat. Stirring too hard knocks the air out of the foam and you lose some of the puff. It should hold soft peaks on the spatula."},{"number":4,"title":"Divide the Puffy Paint Into Small Bowls","text":"If you want more than white, spoon the mixture into smaller bowls, one for each color. Four or five colors is plenty for a rainbow. Keep one bowl white. White puffy paint is great for clouds, snow and outlines, and it looks bright on dark paper. Scrape the big bowl clean so nothing goes to waste."},{"number":5,"title":"Color Each Bowl of Puffy Paint With Food Coloring","text":"Add a few drops of food coloring to each bowl and stir until the color is even. Liquid watercolors work too and give brighter shades. Go slowly. You can always add another drop, but too much liquid makes the paint runny. Mix red and yellow for orange, or blue and red for purple, if you are short on colors."},{"number":6,"title":"Spoon the Puffy Paint Into Plastic Bags","text":"Scoop each color into its own sandwich bag or piping bag. Push the paint down toward one corner and squeeze out as much air as you can. Seal a sandwich bag, or twist the top of a piping bag and close it with a twist tie or rubber band. Write the color on the bag if they look alike."},{"number":7,"title":"Snip a Corner Off the Puffy Paint Bag","text":"Cut a small hole at the corner of each bag with scissors. Start tiny. A small hole gives a thin, controlled line, and you can always cut it bigger. A hole that is too big lets the paint gush out in one blob. An adult should do the cutting for young children."},{"number":8,"title":"Squeeze Puffy Paint Onto Sturdy Card Stock","text":"Cover your work surface with a tray or mat. Lay down a sheet of card stock or thick paper. Squeeze the bag gently from the top, the way you would a tube of toothpaste, and draw lines, swirls and dots. Bright colors pop against black card stock. Thin printer paper will wrinkle as the paint dries."},{"number":9,"title":"Layer Puffy Paint Colors to Build a Rainbow","text":"Lay one color right beside the next and the lines will join into a thick, raised design. A rainbow is a perfect first picture. Do one arch at a time, red on the outside, then work your way in. Little ones can press the puffy lines with a finger to feel how soft they are."},{"number":10,"title":"Finish the Puffy Paint Picture and Let It Dry Overnight","text":"Keep adding details until you are happy with the picture. Fish, flowers, names and patterns all work well. Then set it flat somewhere safe and let it dry overnight. The paint firms up and puffs a little more as it dries but stays soft and squishy to the touch. Write the date on the back."}],"commonProblems":[],"recipe":null,"lastUpdated":"2026-10-25T14:59:40.726Z","published":"2026-10-25T14:59:40.294Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit Show Me Step by Step with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure. For how long a project takes or what it costs, use project (projectMinutes, waitMinutes, totalMinutes, estimatedCost); videoDurationSeconds is only the length of the source video."}