As with many Bad Crafts featured here, puffy paint isn't so bad in and of itself. In fact it can be a remarkably versatile crafting supply. (Although, much in the way that Arnold Schwarzenegger is only ever Arnold Schwarzenegger in his movie roles, puffy paint will never be anything other than puffy paint. You can make a cool spiderweb necklace out of it, but it will very much be a cool spiderweb necklace made out of puffy paint.)
No, the problem with puffy paint is that it was (and is) used (and abused) by amateur crafters of all ages to make crafts which are, to put it kindly, "visibly homemade" at best. "Frumpy" at worst.
Puffy paint (technically known as "dimensional paint," but seriously, who calls it that?) has been beloved by pre-teen girls for decades. I should know, because I was one, and I loved my puffy paint. It was always a sad day when my puffy paint t-shirt masterpieces inevitably succumbed to the vicissitudes of the laundry cycle. That paint says it's washable, but in reality, you only get a few washes before it starts flaking off. (Such was the case when I was using it in the 80s, at least.)
Aside from pre-teen girls doodling flowers and hearts, puffy paint is also used by a certain brand of middle-aged Midwestern crafter. The kind who is liable to create puffy paint kitty face sweatshirts, to be specific. If her children are lucky, they are already grown up and out of the house by the time she discovers puffy paint, and its horrors are confined to baby clothes for their progeny. (Who cares about baby clothes? They're just going to get pooped on, and they grow out of them in three months anyway.)
The fact that puffy paint can be used to create anything cool is more a testimony to the creativity and determination of crafters than to any quality of the puffy paint itself.
Image courtesy Flickr/Sarcasmo
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