Tea Stained Ballerina Mixed Media with Free Printable Ballerina Torso

8 x 8 Mixed Media “I Hope You Dance”

If you have never tried “painting with tissue paper”, this is the perfect beginners project using white tissue paper, Mod Podge, and fruit tea.

I got the idea for a tissue paper ballerina just after I finished making my Sand Dollar Ballerina a few weeks ago using a inkjet shrink film ballerina I printed out and shrunk in the oven.

6 x 6 Mixed media “Sand Dollar Ballerina”

I have really had fun making inkjet shrink film pieces, and have already reordered four more packages!

 

I like 8 x 8 gallery wrapped canvases because their edges are easy to finish and they are good to go without a frame.

 

To start: I cut about 30 pieces of white tissue paper into pointy triangles.

Next, put two teabags in 1/8th cup hot water for a strong tea mixture to use as the “paint”.  I used a peach and a hyacinth tea bag so the pink wouldn’t be too bright. HINT: I leave the teabags in the water so the color gets stronger.

Then put some Mod Podge on a saucer so you can go easily back and forth between the concentrated tea and the Mod Podge.

 

Make a mark for the exact middle and place all the tissue paper points starting from that.  I just smeared a good layer of Mod Podge on the canvas top and started laying down tissue paper from the middle.  I used my paint brush to smooth down each strip and dipped the brush into the tea to color each strip (working quickly and brushing from waist to edge.)

You just keep adding tissue paper putting some Mod Podge under the paper if it is dry, and getting some tea on the brush and painting from waist to edge.  The brush is quite “juicy” with Mod Podge and tea!

After there is a contrast of layers, I quit adding more strips….less is more.

I added a rhinestone belt and hair pin and printed out a banner on white inkjet shrink film that says “I Hope You Dance”.

The whole project took about 2 hours to make and would be perfect for any little ballerina!

8 x 8 Mixed Media “I Hope You Dance”

Click and Print:

This image prints out at a full sheet size.  The Inkjet Shrink Film will shrink  50%. The image looks washed out, but the color intensifies as the image shrinks so lighter is better.