Valentine's Day Marble Painting, with Paper Decorations

Valentine's Day is almost here! Have you decorated yet? I already made my Sweet(heart) welcome sign for the front door, but I wanted to make a second project that I could get my toddler involved in. I still had extra paint left over, so why not use it to make messy art that could be transformed into paper decorations? You might remember our cookie tin marble painting that we did last year for St. Patrick's day. I saved another cookie tin this year, so I decided to give it another go, this time in Valentine's colors.

 

 

We have been having a horrific dry stretch, so this time I decided to take the whole project outdoors in the sunshine. I set up the project on the kid-sized picnic table that we have set up in the backyard and let S-Bug get a little messy! I recommend putting your kids in a smock, or use older play-clothes when painting is involved. Now that S-Bug is a year older than he was the last time we did a project like this, he wanted to be involved with squirting out the paint and putting the marbles in. Because we worked outdoors I didn't use the cookie tin lid, which allowed us to see the painting progress.

 

 

The process is simple. Cut heavy paper (we used cardstock) down to size to fit inside the cookie tin, drip or swirl paint in 2-4 places, put your marbles in and let them roll. As the marbles pick up the paint, they create abstract lines and blend the three colors together. For Valentine's day we used red, white, and pink paint, but you could use any color combination.

 

When your painting is finished, carefully lift out the marbles and paper, and lay flat to dry. We did a total of six sheets of cardstock, but you could do more or less depending on how interested your toddler is. As you can see, depending on how the paint is dripped onto the paper, and how much paint is applied, the intensity of the paintings can vary.

 

 

We left the finished paintings dry in the sun for about 20 minutes before they were completely dry. Indoors, I would let them dry for longer, 1-2 hours depending on how much paint was applied. You can either display your marble art as-is, or use it as a uniquely graphic medium to create paper decorations.

 

I wanted to do something slightly different from the shamrock bunting I did last year, so I decided to make heart templates in 4 different sizes that fit into each other. You can use the templates that I created, or use your own. Simply print and cut each heart out, then stack them onto each other to create nesting hearts.

 

 

This post will be linked up to the Spring Craft Blog Hop - Valentine's Day and Mardi Gras. Link up stays open until February 17th, so stop by and link up your crafts!