From the page: Glass that was waiting for a second chance
Idea 7
Natural paints and pigments
Before paint cans, homemade paints were made of natural pigment (earth, coffee, turmeric, dehydrated beet) + a binder (glue, gum arabic, egg white). The glass bottle comes in as the perfect flask: it doesn't react with the pigments, seals with a lid and lets you see the color. It's an age-old painter's technique — the same principles of Renaissance paints, but on your counter.
What you need
- Small lidded glass bottles
- Pigments: turmeric, ground coffee, dried grated beet, saffron, colored clay
- Binder: white glue or paint gum (mix of flour + cooked water)
- Funnel and mixing spoon
How to make it
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1
Prepare the binder: for flour glue, mix flour and water (3 tablespoons of flour to 1 cup of water), cook while stirring until thickened and let it cool. It's the "base" that makes the pigment stick to paper.
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2
In each little bottle, mix 1 spoon of pigment with 2 of binder. Adjust: more pigment = stronger, more opaque color.
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3
Close tightly and shake. Label each bottle with the color name and date — turmeric fades over time.
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4
Test on kraft paper and let it dry a day before actually using it, to see the final dried color.
Finishing touches
beet gives pink, coffee gives sepia, turmeric gives golden yellow. Store in the fridge and use within a week — natural paint is alive and perishable.
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