You have all those wonderful coloring pages that you just downloaded! You print them off and color them! But... what else can you do with them?
I am frugal at heart and will try to figure out 10 different uses for something I spent my hard earned money on.
Here are ten things to do with digital download coloring pages.
1. The easiest one is - print, color and frame! I think anything you work hard on needs to be celebrated. Frame it and hang it on the wall for everyone to see!
2. Print on watercolor paper and paint. Cut watercolor paper into the size you want (mine is 8x10). Load it into the hand feeder of your printer and print.
Make sure the ink is dry before you paint or the black will bleed. I let mine dry over night but if you're in a hurry you can use a hair dryer to speed it up!
Here I used watercolors on Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper.
I'm not sure if this will work on all printers. Mine has pigment based ink which is waterproof. I understand dye based ink is not but all you can do is give it a try!
3. Print on white card stock and make cards. Set up your printer so that you can print multiple images to a sheet of card stock. Cut them apart and either color them or leave them black and white. Adhere them to a piece of folded card stock, write your message inside and you have a personalized card!
4. Make gift tags! Along the same lines, print several on card stock, cut them apart, punch a hole in it and make gift tags.
5. Give them as a gift. Buy several different images. Print them on card stock. Wrap them up with colored pencils, markers, and any other art supplies you like to give as a gift.
6. Print on kraft brown acid free card stock. (I like this idea a lot!)
Highlight with white pens, color shadows with a pencil or pen. It gives a monochromatic effect.
7. Print on colored paper and use colored pencils or gel pens. Colored pencils stand out and look cool on colored paper.
I used Strathmore Colored Art Paper and Prismacolors
Here I used gel pens
8. Print on fabric, paint and embellish or use it in a quilt. This idea came from a friend (thanks Becky!).
Cut white cotton fabric and a piece of freezer paper a little larger than 8 1/2 x 11. Place the fabric on the shiny side of the paper. Iron the two together (I found it stuck better when I ironed on the paper side) Now trim to 8 1/2 x 11.
Before you feed it through your printer, find out what side needs to be "up". I put a little x in the corner of a sheet of paper and fed it through my printer. You want the image printed on the fabric not the freezer paper. :)
The ink smudged a little on the bottom but it will be in the seam allowance so I don't mind.
To iron or not to iron... I ironed anyway just to make sure the ink didn't bleed.
with inktense pencils with fantastix all purpose ink
You can color it with Inktense pencils or paint it with fabric paint. You might want to look up online different ways to color your fabric, but I would press the piece after you have painted it to set the colors.
9. Trace with transfer paper and embroider them. I have pillow cases with hand embroidery on them made by my wonderful sister in law. They are my favorites!
This is what I use. I've had it forever so I'm not sure what is on the market now.
10. Trace with transfer paper and use it as a stained glass template. Simplify the image and use it as a template for stained glass. If you are going to sell the glass, contact the designer beforehand to make sure it's okay or to see if they have a commercial license you can purchase. If you are going to make it for yourself, it should be considered "personal use".
There are thousands of sites where you can download images to color. Most will state that they are "for personal use only" which is what mine say in my terms of use. In my opinion, all these ideas are for personal use as long as you don't sell the items or the picture as a pattern. Make sure you read the terms of use from the site where you downloaded the image. Using any of these ideas with my images are fine with me even if it is a gift for someone.
The images I used in this post are my Butterfly Mandala coloring page. My coloring book and pages are here.
I hope you try one of these projects! If you do, send me pictures and I will post them.
