DIY Painted Tea Towel – Colorful Citrus Stamped
I’ve had “paint tea towels” on my to do list for the longest time. I just think they make darling gifts for moms or friends. You can really add any design you’d like. I love those flour sack tea towels and they are the perfect blank canvas. Super cheap, large, and bright white! Recently I saw the cutest idea to use fruit as “stamps” and decided it was time to go for it with my “paint tea towel” idea. These DIY painted tea towels ended up looking so cute and summery. Scroll down for the very simple tutorial.
Painted Tea Towel
Here’s what you’ll need:
Any Citrus fruit (lemon, lime, grapefruit, etc.) I used only lemon
Paint – I used a multi surface paint in a variety of colors and they did well being washed.
A little about the paint. I used this Americana multi-surface paint. I thought I’d be using these strictly for decoration but I did end up throwing them in the wash multiple times and they washed really well. If you are concerned about it you can always use some paint that is specifically for fabric.
Tips for stamping the fruit
The fruit can be pretty juicy so it’s a good idea to blot the lemon half a few times before brushing on the paint. Also, don’t go too heavy on the paint, just enough to cover the whole lemon half, but if you brush on too much you will just get a big paint blob. I tested out a few stamps on a piece of paper towel to get the right amount of paint.
Press down on the lemon half onto the tea towel.
You can get creative with the painted tea towel. Different colors and designs half of the lemon wedge or the whole thing. I did a couple of tea towels with scattered stamps and a couple more where I lined the stamps along the edges of the tea towel. 
These painted tea towels ended up being so pretty just look at the colors, they are so bright and cheerful! Don’t you think they are so fun for summer? They will make a really fun one of a kind addition to my summer kitchen decor!
Have you done DIY painted tea towels yet? It’s such a fun project and a great gift idea for moms and friends!
These are too cute Chels! I love the colors, they are perfect for summer and look so easy to make. 🙂
Thank you so much, Taryn! I can’t wait for summer!
I love these and I have already pinned it to try for this summer!
Stacy
http://www.anygirlcandoit.com
Hi Stacy! Thank you so much for stopping by and for pinning! I hope you’ll share a picture of your completed tea towels. I’d love to see!
So cute! And I LOVE the colors you used!
xo thanks friend!!
These are awesome Chelsea!! I love them – pinned!
Thank you! I love how easy this project was – I think I want to stamp everything with lemons and grapefruit now!
I love this idea, Chelsea!!! I am so doing this soon!!
And I’m also addicted to watching beauty videos on youtube!!
Ahhh high five!! Who are some of your favs, Selene?
I love essie button too, her diy video was so cute. I really need to try stamped fruit .
Yes! She’s adorable and I loved her video too! Try out the stamped fruit and then come back show me how you did! Have a great week!
So, so cute!!! These would be sweet hostess gifts.
YES! They would be fun! What a great idea! Thanks for stopping by Sarah!
Just love how these turned out! So fresh!
You’re a doll, thanks Amy!
These are so pretty! I love the colors and the cheeriness. Perfect for the kitchen.
Thank you so much MB! Yes, perfect for the kitchen this summer!
I love these! So fresh and summery! I have bins of fabric paint that needs to be put to good use. What an easy personalized gift to give someone. Great idea…Thanks for sharing!
Happy to share! Thanks for visiting!
Too cute and fun! Love this:)
Thank you so much Debbie! I’m thrilled you stopped by 🙂 Have a great week!
Super cute! My last name is lemon, so I have my kitchen décor with lemons. I will have to try these! Kari
You must!!!
So cute! I may have to try these! Visiting from iheartnaptime!
Thanks for stopping by Becky! They are really fun to make!
These turned out really great! I love the colors that you used
Thanks Sonnet!!! xo
So pretty! Love the colors, the daintiness of it and the way you can see all the segments! Very clever to use real citrus!!
Thanks Cindy! I think it would be fun to use different citrus fruit too but I just had lemons 🙂
These are adorable. My favorite beauty vlogger is MakeupbyTiffanyD!
I love her too!! Thanks for visiting, Andrea!
Chelsea,
These are so pretty and simple! What a great idea for gifts during the summer! I’d love for you to come link these up at my Skip The Housework Party! http://bit.ly/TerHGJ
Thanks so much Melanie!!
Not only did these turn out absolutely adorable, but they look like so much fun to make!
Thanks, Katie! They were really fun to make!
They’re sooo pretty!! And absolutely perfect for summer! I think the boys would love doing fruit art too. Thanks for sharing, friend!
~Abby =)
There are endless possibilities to the fruit art! So fun for the kiddos!
Juicilicious!! What a gorgeous idea Chelsea! I featured your DIY in my latest blog post at Bright Settings: http://www.brightsettings.com/BrightIdeas/10-summer-diy-decor-ideas/ xo Heather
WOW! I am beyond in love with these. It combines some of my favorite things too: lemons, tea towels and the colors pink and yellow. I’m going to make these for my mama. 🙂
These are so very, very sweet! What a great idea Chelsea!!
I think I’m going to try this on a nice, fresh white tee shirt!!!
there is too good and simple idea wow really i like it thank u
These are super cute! I have a bunch of sack towels left over from our wedding and this could be a great way to use them. BTW – we’re currently stationed in Hawaii and I am not looking forward to moving somewhere colder next year!
OMG, How people can think like this. amezing, well done
I tried fabric paint and the juice from the lemon made the paint thicken! I even watered down the paint and it still got all clumpy Acrylic paint did not have this reaction!
Love these!! Did you use flour sack towels for this project? Thanks so much!!
Hi Angela – yes flour sack towels! Super inexpensive!
Hi Angela, yes they are flour sack towels.
What a simple and clever idea! I think I may just have to try this!
Love this idea!!! Can’t wait to try this. Do you do both sides or just one? I want to do them on napkins.
Hi Robin, I did just one side since the towels are pretty thin. If you have thicker napkins you can probably do both sides.
That insight’s perfect for what I need. Thanks!
Stender:“…Zoom, King’s Club, St.Germain, Aquarius etc.”Das sind genau die Etablissements, in denen ich auch verkehrt bin!Schick mir doch mal ‘nen Scan von der Eintrittskarte.
These look great! I tried them but the fabric paint just wouldn’t spread on the fruit. Too juicy! I did try to dry up but didn’t work. My last resort was to put the fruit in the oven to dry. Will try again tomorrow.
Kim – that’s so interesting! You must have gotten some really great/ripe fruit.
So cute! Just wondering if you washed the flour sack towels before or after stamping? I’m planning to use fabric paint and make these functional kitchen towels. Thanks!
Can these be washed, or do I need to use fabric paint?
You don’t need fabric paint to wash! Just toss them in!
I need to get some and give this a try. I’ve always soaked the oatmeal and the chia overnight along with my flavorings like diced candied ginger, apple pie spice, and dried fruit like cherries, or raisins.United Arab Emirates
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This is so cool. I didn’t know they made this stuff in fabric form. This opens up a world of possibilities. Now we can make clothing and write on ourselves. Your mats are adorable. home electrolysis system
Love this idea. Will be trying it soon. So fresh and pretty.