These are so simple and easy to make- they make a fantastic keepsake and also a perfect gift for any occasion – Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Teacher Appreciation, Christmas Gifts you name it! The best part is – it will cost you next to nothing to make tonnes of them!
Check out our simple video tutorial at the top of this post!
To make your own, you will need:
White ceramic tiles (I got mine from a hardware store for $0.50 each
Isoprophyl alcohol (also from the hardware store)
Clear finish spray (found in hardware & craft stores)
Sharpie Pens – we used come cool neon ones for ours!
Step 1
Colour in your tiles using the sharpies pens in random format
Step 2
When completely covered, add small droplets of the Isoprophyl alcohol to your art and watch as it magically marbles (this is great for the kids to watch!)
Step 3
Let that dry for at least an hour
Step 4
Spray with the clear finish spray
If you liked this craft, you may also like our:
Sand Footprint Craft
Can you use regular rubbing alcohol for this?
Hi Laura, no, it needs to be the one mentioned. Sorry, we’ve heard some people have tried it with rubbing alcohol without success. Louise x
Rubbing alcohol is isopropyl alcohol though..
Could you use a bigger tile and make a trivet ? Could this stand a hot pot put on it ?
You sure could!
I have tried michaels, home depot,Walgreen and nobody knows about or carries this alcohol you show.
They sell a few diff strengths at my local Walmart and pharmacies. I think maybe 50%?, 70% and 90%. U have to look at bottle. Haven’t tried this yet. But the 90% is STRONG! Will remove the finish and some of the paint off ur furniture. It smears and removes part of my nail polish when I use it. I’m going to try that.
91% rubbing /isopropyl alcohol. Two names for the same thing. The 91% is the correct strength.
Thank you!
Amazing!!! my kids play with silly putty for two hours straight.
Are the tiles glazed or unglazed?
They are unglazed Stephanie 🙂
Super neat idea btw!
I have some glazed left over tiles, do u know if they would work, or if maybe I tried to sand the glaze off? And I’m hoping the 90% alcohol works. Fingers crossed.
Hi Brandy, we think it will work on glazed :). Let us know how you go. Louise x
Where can you buy this type of alcohol?
You can get it at Craft Stores and Chemists 🙂
Is it possible to use modge podge instead of the dura max? Thanks!
I saw on a different post that spray modge podge works but not the brush on kind.
91 % isopropyl alcohol works great, the 50% does not work. Haven’t tried anything in between. Have bought at CVS and Walmart. I have the kids and myself work on sheets of foil to protect the tables and use q-tips dipped in alcohol to make dots instead of eye droppers.
I used isopropyl alcohol last year with my granddaughter and it worked fine.
Can this be done on canvas?
It works on fabric. My little granddaughters and I have “painted” T-shirts and pillow cases. The t-shirt material worked better. The fine, smooth finish on the pillowcase did not retain the vivid colors once they were washed…and I even used white vinegar to try to “set” the color.
Could you maybe put a picture of the child on the tile then spray or will it not work?
I tried this today. And my tile was glossy so I don’t know if it made a difference but when I sprayed it with the clear gloss spray it just spread the alcohol around some more. Help! Cause I want to make these for my kids parents at work.
Christine, did you let the tiles fully dry before you sprayed on the gloss? The directions say to let it dry for at least an hour before the spray.
I tried with 70% alcohol and 99% alcohol. The 70% was too weak and just sort of smudged the colour. The 99% was too strong and nearly bleached all the colour right off. So I mixed the two strengths together 1:1 to get something in the 85% range and that worked fine.
The only tiles I could find were glazed and when I did a light to moderate coat of the sealant spray I have (a different brand than shown above) and then let it dry and then tried to wipe the tiles, the colour came right off. So I’m going to see if I can track down the same sealant, or find different tiles.
After adding the drops of isopropyl alcohol (91%), do I need to let my tile dry before I repeat?
My sharpie is just spreading all over my tile and basically turning out white if I use to much alcohol! 🙁
After the sharpie dries can we have the kids write something in black sharpie before sealing?