December 1, 2022
DIY Holiday Gifts: Water Marbled Ornament and Reusable Gift Wrap
Make some beautiful hand-made gifts using DecoArt's Water Marbling Paints. Create one-of-a-kind marbled paper origami ornament and marbled fabric reusable furoshiki gift wrap!
With DecoArt's Water Marbling Acrylic Paints, all of the guess work and mixing has been taken care of with no worries of harsh odors or chemicals to deal with. You can use the paints directly out of the bottle to experiment and create beautiful patterns on a variety of materials! DecoArt also has eductional videos for work space set up and water marbling techniques as well as historical/ traditional references to help you get started on your artisitic journey using water marbling paints.
Water Marbled Origami Ornament
Level: Easy-Intermediate
Step 1
Follow directions to mix up size using the Magic Medium. The Magic Medium thickens the water so the water marbling paints will float on top, allowing you to pull a print. Set up the rest of your area for water marbling. Make sure to have all of your materials easily accessible.
Check out this link for some great tips for an efficient set up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TBp8iRkwWQ
TIP: Have a garbage can handy for discarding used cleaning papers.
Need to see it in action?
Watch the full project marbling demo before you begin!
Step 2
Begin your design by creating a base color with Red Water Marbling Arcylic. Pour a line down the center of the tray. Pour an additonal red line down the center. Then drop "stones" of Orange paint randomly over surface. Continue to alternate dropping Yellow, Green, Aquamarine, Light Blue, Lavender, and Pink paints to build up layers of paint.
Step 3
Then drop "stones" of Orange paint randomly over surface. Continue to alternate dropping Yellow, Green, Aquamarine, Light Blue, Lavender, and Pink paints to build up layers of paint.
TIP: To create a smaller stone, dip the tip of a clean Specialty Water Marbling Stick into the paint and touch to the center of the stone.
Step 4
Lightly blow the surface or use a Marbling Stick to move the paint around. Drop 4-6 stones of Black onto the colorful design. Add drops of White into the center of the black stones. Continue this process alternating black and white to build the stone shapes. Lightly blow surface to create more movement in the black and white stones.
Step 5
Drop 4-6 stones of Black onto the colorful design. Add drops of White into the center of the black stones. Continue this process alternating black and white to build the stone shapes. Lightly blow surface to create more movement in the black and white stones.
Step 6
Holding a piece of the Water Marbling Paper by the corner edges, allow the center of the paper to touch the surface first and gently drop the sides. Pull your printed paper off of the surface and allow excess size to drip back into tray. Place print face down into a clean water bath and agitate. This washes off excess size and allows paper to dry faster and colors to be more crisp. Place print face up onto paper towels to dry. Allow to dry. Place dry print face down on a clean surface such as a piece of watercolor paper and iron the back.
TIP: Before beginning a new water marbling design, clean off the surface of the size using the DecoArt Clean
Step 7
Gather what you will need to create your origami ornaments. You will need to prints per ornament. Measure and cut two 8"x 8" squares.
TIP: Practice the origami folding patterns with another sheet before starting your ornament.
Origami folding steps:
Step 8
Use water marbling stick to poke a hole in the end of the top shape. Thread your ribbon or twine through one shape. Tie the end of the string to creat a loop and affix with hot glue. Glue each folded facet together.
TIP: Create multiple different ornaments with a variety of color combinations and different water marbling techniques. Check out this link to water marbling techniques:
Water Marbled Furoshiki (Reusable Wrap)
Level: Easy-Intermediate
FULL VIDEO- Water Marbled Furoshiki
Step 1
Follow directions to mix up surface prep to prepare your fabric scarf. You will need to wash without softener and then dry. Then treat fabric with surface prep and all to dry before water marbling. Follow directions to mix size using the Magic Medium. Mix enough size to fill the tray you will be dipping your fabric in. This scarf needed to be at least 18"x18" to wrap around the box for the ornament.
TIP: Make sure your fabric fits in the tray when layed flat.
Step 2
Begin your design by creating a base color with White Water Marbling Arcylic. Pour a line down the center of the tray. Then drop "stones" of Black paint randomly over surface. Continue to alternate dropping white and black to build up layers of paint. Do this about 5-10 times for each color. Lightly blow the surface or use a Marbling Stick to move the paint around.
TIP: Have a paperclip handy to unclog any dried paint in the tip of the bottle!
Step 2
In the four corners drop red stones onto the surface. Continue to build colorful stones by adding Orange, Yellow, Green, Aquamarine, Light Blue, Lavender and Pink into the previous color's center. Repeat to the size desired.
Step 3
Hold four corners of fabric (you may need an extra set of helping hands) and allow the center to touch the surface first. Gently lay down the rest of the fabric. Lightly press on fabric to get rid of any trapped bubbles. Pull up fabric and rinse.
Step 4
Hang scarf and allow to dry completely. Clean off surface of size with cleaning paper to begin a new design!
Step 5
Place ornament in a box. Tie up the box with the Furoshiki and create a cute gift tag out of leftover water marbled paper and string.
TIP: What a creative and thoughtful gift for someone special!