Step Three: Painting The Sides
When making toys, getting a colorful side with a crisp edge on your block is easy but looks professionally done. It is one of the simple things you can do to give your toys a colorful ‘pop’ and elicit a ‘WOW’ factor from family and friends.
You can use the same technique with either a foam applicator or your Perfect brush. Let’s walk through the steps together.
Supply List
1
Pinch the Tabs
First, open your paint pot by pinching the tabs. This will make the lid ‘pop’ open.
2
Just A Little Paint
Take your perfect brush or foam applicator and lightly dip it into the toy-safe paint. You only need a little bit of paint. Too much paint will create a gloppy and ridged surface, making the stencils bleed around the ridges.
Also, thick paint can take a long time to dry, increasing the time spent on the project.
You can always go back to get some more paint later, but always start with a little bit and build your way up.
3
Straight Up & Down
Here is the most important part for keeping your paint neat and tidy! Keep your brush perfectly up and down to apply the paint to the end grain surface of the block. By keeping the brush straight up and down, the paint won’t slip over the edge. This keeps your toys looking neat and clean.
You want the paint to be very smooth. Smooth paint makes it much easier to get a clean pull from your stencil later.
4
Place On An Unpainted Side To Dry
With the first coat finished, set the wooden block on an unpainted side to dry. This is a simple step but it is an important one for keeping your blocks from getting smeared!
A thin coat will dry very quickly. Continue painting the other blocks while you wait. You are doing a GREAT job!
