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Fun Marbling Crafts For Beginners

ByErin Nutter Updated on

Do you love getting fun and unexpected designs when painting? These DIY marbling techniques are the perfect way to get a really cool paint pattern with little effort. Here are 9+ marbling crafts to inspire your next marble painting project.

collage of marbling crafts with mugs, flower pots, jar, paper and pumpkins.

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Materials To Use To Marble Effect

  • Shaving Cream and Paint: You can print off of shaving cream and watercolor, acrylic or food coloring to get a marble paper or item (see the eggs in this list).
  • Water and Spray Paint: Several of the marbling crafts in this list are done by adding spray paint to water and dipping the item in.
  • Water and Nail Polish: This technique can be done super quickly and if you mess up, just wipe those areas up with a little nail polish remover.
  • Acrylic Paint Pour
  • Hydro-Dipping Acrylics On Water
  • Oil and Food Coloring
  • Liquid Starch and Paint

How To Water Marble

Water marbling is a creative technique where paint (or nail polish) floats on the surface of water. You are able to use tools or let the materials naturally swirl together before dipping paper or other items into the mixture.

Elaborate designs can be created with specific acrylic hydro-dipping paints & mediums. However, you don’t have to spend a fortune to do basic water marbling.

hand dipping mug in paint water, hand spraying gold spray paint and shaving cream with paint.

Basic Steps

Here are the basic steps we follow, no matter what paint material we are using.

Step 1: Fill A Container With Water

You want to make sure that you are not using a container you like. You will end up with paint or nail polish on the sides.

Step 2: Add Drops Of Color

Whether you are spraying in paint, dropping nail polish or acrylic paint you want to work quickly.

Step 3: Swirl Colors

You can take a skewer or other tool to quickly swirl colors to make a design you like. This step is optional, as the materials naturally will give you a cool effect.

Step 4: Dip Your Item

Step 5: Pull Out and Let Dry

Optional: Seal Your Project

Depending on what you are marbling, it might make sense to use dishwasher-safe Mod Podge or clear spray.

Marbling Crafts For Beginners

1
two painted terracotta pots with spray paint for marble effect.
Easy Spray Paint Marbling Tutorial
Use this tutorial to get all the details about how to do spray paint marbling on terracotta flower pots. This easy-painted flower pot design still amazes people with how cheaply this craft was done.
Marble Flower Pot Tutorial
2
watercolor card with gold xoxo written on it in envelope.
DIY Shaving Cream Art Cards
Tape out a simple shape with painter's tape then use a shaving cream marble technique. Add your own designs once the paper dries for a fun look.
Shaving Cream Paper Tutorial
3
2 nail polish marbled mugs with blue and blue and pink.
DIY Nail Polish Dipped Mugs
This fun craft uses nail polish in water to create a cool marbleized design on white ceramic mugs. Just make sure that you only dip the bottom of the mug to keep it food safe. Read more about how to also make these dishwasher-safe mugs.
How To Make Nail Polish Dipped Mugs
4
Christmas tree card with purple and blue shaving cream art background.
Easy Handmade Watercolor Christmas Card Idea
This simple card prints a blue and marble shaving cream background and then uses a gold paint marker to repeat a simple design. You could modify this marble craft and personalize it for any holiday.
Easy Homemade Watercolor Card Ideas
5
faux painted pumpkins in gold basket with gray, black, white and gold spray paint.
Easy Painted Faux Pumpkin Craft
Are you looking for a cheap Fall decor idea? These painted faux pumpkins are so fun to make. Get step-by-step instructions with another craft on spray paint marbling.
Read More
6
white marble painted bathroom counters with sink and faucet.
Paint Laminate Countertops (Not Using A Kit)
Did you know that you can paint your counters to look like marble? Follow this step-by-step tutorial to learn how to get the look for marble on your laminate countertops.
How To Paint Counters
7
www.pinterest.com
Cheap DIY Halloween Decoration
Use your old glass jars and spray paint marbling to create a cheap Halloween decoration. Add spooky eyeball candies to complete the fun jar. The best part is that if you mess up, you are only using an old jar and can just try again.
Read More
8
Marbleized Easter egg using cool whip or shaving cream
How To Dye Easter Eggs With Shaving Cream
Use food coloring and shaving cream to dye your Easter eggs this Spring. Kids will love experimenting with different color combinations.
Read More
9
craftyartideas.com
Shaving Cream Paper Marbling
Instead of using liquid watercolor color or food coloring, you could try to add acrylic paint to shaving cream for a fun effect. These make a great art project as is or as part of a collage.
How To Marble Paper With Paint
10
pumpkin with paint pour acrylic paint in teal, yellow, white and black paint.
DIY Easy Paint Pour Pumpkins
Create a marble look by doing a paint pour on a pumpkin, canvas or wood. This fun painting technique will for sure give you some unexpected results.
Paint Pour Pumpkin Tutorial
11
Lamp makeover using marble contact paper
joyfulderivatives.com
DIY Faux Marble Table Lamp Makeover with Contact Paper
Instead of trying to paint a faux marble finish, you could use marble contact paper to makeover all sorts of items. This lamp makeover shows how contact paper can really modernize old home decor.
Read More

Marbling FAQs

What is the best marbling technique?

It depends on what you are marbling. For 3-d crafts, spray paint marbling or nail polish marbling is your best bet. For paper crafts, you can use any method that you like best. If working with kids we would just consider picking the safest and least toxic method.

What are tips to be successful with the water marbling technique?

If you are dipping an item into the water, then you need to work quickly. Spray paint, acrylic paint, and nail polish can get “goopy” in the water. Make sure you completely clean out the old paint before doing another item.

What materials do I need for water marbling?

For basic water marbling, you will need a shallow container filled with water, nail polish, spray paint or acrylic paint, a skewer, and the item you plan to marble.

Follow us on Pinterest, YouTube or Facebook for more DIY inspiration!

More Fun Craft Posts

We love creating a marble effect on all sorts of crafts. Not only is it fun, but can be done in no time at all!

Erin Nutter is the DIY enthusiast, writer and photographer behind TheDIYNuts.com. She loves sharing her passion for do-it-yourself projects along with her husband, Eric. As an artist, mother, and lover of all things DIY she hopes to inspire you to be creative to make a life and home you love.

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