Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Thumbs up to this idea! Why didn't I think of that?

I discovered this little bit of genius when I was subbing in my old art room a while back.  I snapped these pics to share with you, and then promptly forgot about them.  I rediscovered them tonight while scrolling through my phone to delete extra photos.
I personally always hated paint pumps, because, of course, they always clogged.  So I didn't use them.  I poured paint instead, and honestly, I guess I have a pretty steady hand.  But this solution is simple, and absolute GENIUS!  These thumbs are simply pencil toppers.  They fit perfectly over the paint pump spouts, and totally keep them from clogging. 
Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best.  Now I just have to figure out where to find these cute pencil toppers!

7 comments:

  1. Fantastic idea! Thanks for sharing.

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  2. I think Oriental Trading Co. has them:))

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the tip! I believe you are correct!!

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  3. I am definitively looking for some of those before school starts!

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  4. I use paint pumps, always have, and have developed a good system for working with them. Number 1 - don't let the kids use them, as it is too tempting to not over squirt and end up with paint everywhere! 2 - as the paint finishes off and gets harder to pump out, pull out the new bottle, shove the pump into the new bottle and take the lid from the new bottle and put it on the old bottle (same colour of course!) Turn the old bottle, with lid on, upside down in a bucket. An ordinary bucket will hold 3 or 4 bottles upside down. The next time you need that colour check the bucket first and if the remaining paint has all run DOWN to the top of the bottle, when you release the lid all that usually hard to get at paint will rush out of the bottle with the help of gravity. The longer you leave the bottle sitting upside down the more you will get out of it. I can truly say I get virtually all the paint out of my bottles with this system!
    But as for the clogging, yes it does happen. I have heard that using a blob of blutack works well but I never remember to do it. I generally use my finger to dig around the top of the nozzle before the first squirt to break away any dried up drips of paint but this doesn't always work, so I have the students all well away from the area where I am squirting the paint. They all stand way back when I tell them the stroy of a gorgeous grade 6 girl who was helping me one morning by filling paint pallettes. She was working away beside me when I pushed down on the clogged pump in the red paint which , as they do, squirted sideways anmd she ended up covered in red paint! Yes, all over her face, in her hair and big red blobs all over her navy blue school uniform jumper - aaaggghhhh! It was lucky that I knew her Mum well and she just burst out laughing when I rang her to tell her and all this happened about 20 minutes before school had even started for the day!!!!
    So although I forget the blutack all the time perhaps some fancy pencil toppers will help me to remember. I'll head off to my local $2 shop to find some this afternoon.
    Thanks for reading my comment and I would love it if you visited my blog.
    thebackartroom.global2.vic.edu.au

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    1. Great story! I just checked out your blog - nice! I love seeing bloggers from the other side of the world. It reminds me how much we all have in common, no matter how far apart we live. Your blog format is very different from what I used to, but I figured it out.

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    2. Dear Phyl,
      I have just uploaded a new post all about this cool idea. it's called BRILLIANT IDEA PHYL!
      http://thebackartroom.global2.vic.edu.au/2015/09/29/brilliant-idea-phyl/
      I would love it if you left a comment on it! And thanks for commenting on my blog format. I changed it a while ago and was worried that it was a bit too different and might put some people off. My 18 year old son assured me that it was very user friendly and if people were interested they would figure it out easily. I'm still not convinced but have put updating my blog on my ever expanding 'to do' list!
      Thanks again Phyl,
      Shell

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