I subscribe to a meal kit service that, each week, delivers a box of fresh meats and produce to my door. It must be in season, because lately I’ve been getting a lot of baby bok choy. Now, I love cooking with baby bok choy. But do you know what I really love doing with it? Painting.
The next time you’ve got some baby bok choy, take a look at the root end that you chop off. Notice that it looks just like a rose, with petals circling around a tight center. This stub, which you would normally just throw in the trash, makes a perfect stamp. Use it to stamp roses for artwork, greeting cards or custom wrapping paper. You can even stamp designs to customize T-shirts and aprons.
Other vegetables such as celery and romaine lettuce also work in a similar way, so see what you have in the refrigerator. Today’s vegetable scraps can be tomorrow’s masterpieces.
What you’ll need:
Baby bok choy
Paper towel
Acrylic paint
Foam paint brush
Paper
Carrot (to make images of leaves)
1. Cut the end off of a stalk of baby bok choy. Pat the stub dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture.
2. Apply some acrylic paint to the baby bok choy stub with a foam paint brush.
3. Position it face down on a piece of paper and press firmly to stamp the design.
4. To stamp the images of leaves, cut the end of a carrot at an angle. Apply paint to it and press down on the paper next to the roses.
Jonathan Fong is the author of “Walls That Wow,” “Flowers That Wow” and “Parties That Wow,” and host of “Style With a Smile” on YouTube. You can see more of his do-it-yourself projects at jonathanfongstyle.com.
