Art at Home: Marbled Paper

Make Your Own Marbled Paper!

Download the lesson plan

Supplies:

  • Disposable gloves or tongs
  • Cardstock or bristol board (any thick paper will work)
  • Squeegee (if you do not have one, an old credit card can work too)
  • Food colouring
  • Popsicle stick or skewer
  • Tray
  • Shave foam

Before you begin:

  • Prepare your workspace by laying down a plastic tablecloth or old newspapers and have a sink nearby for easy cleanup.
  • Cut your paper to fit in the size of the tray. The paper should be about an inch smaller than the tray on all edges. I cut my legal size (8.5” x 11”) cardstock in half to create two pieces that are 4.25” x 5.5”

Step 1: Apply a layer of shave foam to your tray. I like to create rows by moving side to side in a tight zig-zag pattern.

Step 2: Smooth your surface with a squeegee. With gentle pressure move in the opposite direction of the shaving foam rows to create an even surface (like frosting a cake!)

Step 3: Choose your colours. In my experience, two colours work best. Remember, using all the colours at once may seem like a good idea but they can mix too quickly and create a muddy brown colour instead. Keep it simple!

Step 4: Put on gloves or use tongs. This part is very important- food colouring’s job is to dye something another colour. This includes your skin! While the dye is perfectly safe, it can take a while to wash off so it is best to use gloves or tongs.

Step 5: Apply colours to your shave foam. Drip your food colouring onto the shave foam. About 2cm apart is perfect. Apply your second colour to the blank areas.

Step 6: Create patterns with your stick or skewer. I like to move in a tight zig-zag pattern. You can do this diagonally, beginning in the corner, or you can do this in a straight line, just like how you applied the shaving foam in step 1. Once you have created this pattern on the entire surface, repeat the motion while moving in the opposite direction.

Step 7: Apply paper to the shaving foam and press down gently. You do not need to press hard, just enough to ensure that the paper is evenly touching your shave foam surface.

Step 8: Remove your paper from the foam. Pick the paper up from the corner and carefully peel back from the shaving foam. The paper will have excess shave foam on it. This is ok! We will remove it in the next step.

Step 9: Use a squeegee to remove excess foam. This part can get messy! Put your paper down on a solid, even surface that is ok to get messy. Hold one edge of your paper with your fingers and pull your squeegee across the surface of your paper in a straight line to remove the excess foam. Now your beautiful marbled paper is all done!

Step 10: Show us your unique marbled paper creation by sharing it to our facebook page!