Spring is here! That means bunnies, rain, and.... berries. We have been picking blackberries and mulberries. I can't decide which of the two I like better.
Today I will be showing you how to make ink out of berries. It is really fun and a little messy.
What you need:
- 1/2 cup of berries
- 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Begin by picking your berries. For my ink I used blackberries.
Watch out for the thorns because they hurt! Also, you may want to wear old clothes because the berry juice gets everywhere.
I picked about a half of a cup of berries the first time and got plenty of juice out of them.
After you pick them put them in a glass bowl.
Here comes the fun part. :) Now you can start squishing the berries. I just used a spoon. Don't worry about the seeds or stems.
Once you squish all of the juice out, pour it into a bowl.
Add the vinegar and the salt and then stir until it dissolves.
You don't have to be precise with your measurements, just guess.
I experimented with the unripe red blackberries just for fun. This is what the difference in colors looks like. I didn't get a very bright color with the unripe berries. It was a light pink. I wouldn't suggest it for writing with but if you want some different shades of pinks for painting it works well.
The unripe berry ink is on the left and the ripe berry ink is on the right.
Don't just throw out the left over berry pieces. If you have chickens they love it!
Finally you can start writing or painting with your ink. Here are some things that I did with mine.
Book marks! It's a little hard to write with a paint brush. :)
You could use it as paint, too. Do whatever you want to with it. I'm not sure exactly how long the berry ink will last but I wouldn't suggest keeping it for more than a few days. Have fun with it!
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