pool noodle printing

When it comes to my creative process, I am always looking for fast and easy ways to add texture, pattern and layers of paint to my large surfaces (like yardage of handmade fabric and canvas). Back in 2011, I created handmade rolling pin stamps. At the time I had not seen anything like this on the market but I really needed tools that would enable me to quickly fill a surface. Well, recently I decide that I needed a bigger solution! Again, I like to use tools that enable me to quickly add layers of paint to a surface. The idea I came up with was using pool noodles and turning them something that I could roll and print.

Today I thought it would be fun to share a few different ways that I like to put a pool noodle use!

So a pool noodle is a flexible foam pool toy that can be used for floating, exercise and water play. They are big which means you can use them to create really large "rolling pin like" tools. I purchased two, each for $1.00. Then I cut them up into different sizes.

You can use just about anything that has texture (like fiber, string, plastic, leaves, etc) to wrap around a pool noodle. I love bubble wrap and I love using it to create lots of dots in the layers of my messy paintings. I wrapped a big piece of bubble wrap around the pool noodle and use it to roll out a lot of dots!

While you can roll the noodle through paint, I've found that it's easier to use a brush to apply paint the surface.

Simply roll over the top of the surface. 

You can also use a wood burning tool to "carve" a pattern or design into the surface of the foam. Always carve foam outside or in a well ventilated area.

Grab a sheet of craft foam and cut it into shapes. Using hot glue, glue those shapes to surface of your pool noodle.

You can even burn designs into those shapes to create even more details!

And you can also use the round ends of those pool noodles to create stamps- take it a step further and carve designs into the ends to add pretty details!

Keep in mind, this process is never going to get you a perfect and clean imprint...I mean your using a pool noodle for goodness sakes! But you will be able to cover a lot of surface area with texture and pattern. This process is great for building up painted layers, adding the illusion of pattern and texture and honestly, it's just a lot of messy fun (for all ages)! 

So the next time you pass by the pool toys at your local dollar store, grab a pool noodle and start creating.