Homemade gelli plate *Updated

I am one of those people that weigh it over long and hard before I make a purchase. I like to try something out multiple times to see if I'd really use it. The gelli plate looks like so much fun so since I have been laid up a bit, I have been watching lots of youtube videos on gelli plates and art journaling and also reading blogs.  I found two that seemed to make the most sense to me. I lay awake til around 4am Sat. morning and decided.....I have to do something. So I folded some laundry, put dishes in the dishwasher, did a few other things and..............made a gelli plate.  lol  I went back to bed around 5:30am so the gelatin had plenty of time to harden so my daughter and I could play.  :-) I apologize for the quality of pictures.  I think we left the camera at momma's so had to use my phone.

Here is the written recipe and the video I got it from.

Homemade gelli plate

12 packets of knox gelatin

3 cups of boiling water

3 cups of cold water

1 Tbsp of bleach 

(the bleach I found from a sweet older lady on youtube and now don't know where it's at. It will help it to last longer)

Mix (gently) the gelatin and 3 cups of cold water. Slowly stir in hot water. Add bleach. Pour into cookie sheet, pan, etc.  I used an ~9X13 baking pan.  Leave it on the counter to gel for at least an hour. wrap with plastic wrap and store in fridge. If you are going to use the top of it be careful that the plastic is smooth because it will make places in the geletin.

Homemade gelli plate video

*UPDATE  Lindsay at The Frugal Crafter is awesome!  You'll want to subscribe to her Youtube channel. Not only will you save money but if it's like me.....her energy will make you want to get up and get something done. :-) Anyway, she found a way to make a permanent homemade gelli plate. How cool is that? I am going to use mine with bleach until it gives out on me and then make one with her recipe.  

 The Frugal Crafter Homemade Gelli Plate Recipe 

 Here is the permanent gelatin plate recipe, remember if you damage the plate you can nuke it on high in the microwave for a minute and reset it!

7 packets of gelatin (6Tablespoons)

mix into:

1 cup of alcohol mixed with 1/2 cup glycerin (room temperature)

then add:

1.5 cups boiling water and pour it into a shallow pan to set.

My daughter and I played with the one I made again and had so much fun. I did check to see how much the ingredients would cost for this one and it's approximately $9 - $10 give or take some. Since I already have the alcohol it will be less for me. :-) *

Below you can see me getting it out of the pan and after I had laid it on the baking sheet. The bottom photo is my daugher using stamps in the paint to make a print. She and I had so much fun and I loved that she "wanted" to create with me. <3 p="">

Here are some picture of my daughter creating and some of her pages. 

More pictures of the pages my daughter did.  I love the one on the right. She used bubble wrap.

Here are 4 prints I got from one time.  I put the stencils on and got two, and then after I took them off, was able to get two more.

If you use too much paint.....you will get what happened below.  Still pretty but not quite what we were going for. :-)

On this one the first print is with the stencil on, the second is with the stencil off, and the third is where I laid the stencil down on a piece of paper after I took it off. 

This one is the same...first one with stencil on, second with stencil off.  

TIP! If you are using a stencil with words place it backwards on your gelli plate to get it correct on your print. :-)

 I hope this was helpful to some of you. And I'm thinking.....with as much fun as my daughter and I had....it would be well worth my money to get a gelli plate. It was an inexpensive way to try it out and see if I would want it and......I plan on having lots of fun with it next week.  If you have any questions feel free to ask.
Hugs!