Tutorial : DIY Marbled Acrylic Poured Coasters.

Acrylic dirty or one cup pour is probably one of my favorite (and messy) painting techniques. The kids love doing these projects too, not just because it's messy, but it's neat to see what the silicone and floetrol does to the paint. We love watching those cells form and how the paint flows onto our surface. 

This year I had the idea of making these little paintings in coaster form for the kids teachers. I knew that I wanted something durable too. Now that I think of it, you could probably use a slice of wood or something else that is solid and is going to last.

For this project I used:

Sculpey III oven baked clay (8 oz)

Sculpey Gloss Glaze

Liquied Leaf in Classic Gold

Two paint brushes - one flat and one small round

Acrylic Paint

Rolling Pin or Smooth bottle 

Dixie Cups

Floetrol

100% Silicone

Like I said before, this is such a messy and fun project to do with the kids, however I would definitely put down some newspaper to protect your work surface.

You'll want to preheat your oven to 275 F. While you're waiting you can begin to roll our your clay. Since I wanted these to have a sort of natural stone feel I didn't go with a perfectly round shape.

So don't fret, there's no need to make them a perfect cirle.

Just go with the flow and make them circle-ish.

You'll want to roll them out at leat 1/4 inch thick and the diameter is really up to you on how big you want them. 

I use an old glass ceramic baking dish to bake our clay in that I don't use for food prep.

 Bake your clay for 15 minutes at 275 F and once done allow them to cool.

Once they are cool now the fun part can begin - painting! 

So don't stress over this, perfection is overrated and because these mimic natural stones / marble, you can be more experimental.

So if you haven't heard of Acrylic dirty pour, this is a painting technique that is equal parts floetrol, acrylic paint, a few drops of 100% silicone (this creates those beautiful "cells") and lots of cups.

If you love the ocean, try this technique with different hues of blues, whites and tans. You really will be amazed by what comes out.

To help the paint stick to the Scupley (since it's a little slick) I use a base color and paint the surface.

I used about four different colors, some bold and some complimentary to the base color (which was a mint green for mine).

Pour your floetrol (just start out with a small amount) into your cups with your paint and mix. The floetrol helps the paint behave more fluidly. So the more floetrol you use the more liquid or free moving the paint will become. 

Once I am happy with the consistency of the paint, I then add only a few (1-3) drops of 100% silicone into each cup of paint and mix again. I'll use my extra cup to pour all the colors in. 

Here I did copper orange, white, gray, and mint green and just poured the paint in at random. There really isn't any rule here, just go with the flow! This is what makes your "dirty" pour or one cup pour.

Depending on how much paint your poured into your original cups there should be enough in your dirty pour cup to cover all four coasters. 

so pour a little bit on your coaster and then tilt it around to spread the paint (see this is where it gets messy). 

Once you have all four coasters covered, allow them to dry (and drip). 

When the paint is completely dry (this may take a day or two) apply 1-2 thin layers of sculpey gloss glaze. Allow to dry.

Now here is where the true magic happens. Also, make sure you shake the liquid leaf really well before you open it. 

 With a small round paint brush, paint the liquid leaf along the edges. 

This is such a small detail however, it really makes the coasters pop and come to life. 

Did you do this project? 

I would love to see what color combos you used! 

Want to switch up the gold leaf? You can try Silver leaf, Copper leaf or even Rose Gold leaf! 

Happy Crafting!