How To Marble With Nail Polish (so simple!)

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How to marble with nail polish…so easy! These coasters got a brand new look simply in about 2 minutes time!

How to marble with nail polish...so easy! These coasters got a brand new look simply in about 2 minutes time! artsychicksrule.com #marblepolish #nailpolishcrafts #marblenailpolish

Hello sweet friends!

I am being crafty again today. Gosh, it’s been fun to get my crafty on lately. I think I need to do it more often.

And it was one of those times that I didn’t even plan it!

I have been looking for these pretty blue/pink/watercolor-ish coasters that I bought for our condo from The Cottage Shop…before we even bought it.
I can not find them anywhere.
I have looked multiple times to no avail. Bummer.

So, I got on Amazon and thought I’d just buy some more…and found these >>> beautiful blue and sparkly marbled looking ones.

Aren’t they pretty?

I put them in my cart and waited as I had a few other things I needed to get also. In the meantime, I remembered that I had some coasters I bought a few years ago to get crafty with. I had planned to write cute short quotes on them but never did.

You can actually see them here in my storage box from when I shared my “mid-century-modern colorful office“.

craft bins with coasters

Just sitting there waiting on me to make ’em pretty.

I thought about using craft paint to do it but then decided nail polish might have better longevity against water, etc.

pink flowers in vase with blue and pink coasters

So, are you ready to see how ridiculously simple this was?

How To Marble with Nail Polish

coasters before with bottles of colored polish nearby

I have a paint obsession…but I also have a nail polish obsession! haha
I have every color in the rainbow but rarely paint my nails all the fun colors these days. (I got stuck on varying shades of white and pink whites and that’s all I’ve been using lately…boring! lol)

Anyway, I obviously had any and all the colors I needed for this project. So I grabbed a few shades of aqua/teal, a pink, and some sparklies so I could sort of recreate the ones I found on Amazon. Theirs did not have pink but I wanted to add it since I do have some pink in the rug and pillows at the beach.

Now, are you ready? 

I grabbed an old glass bowl (I don’t use this one in the kitchen) filled it with lukewarm water and started by adding drops to the water.
I knew that was not going to be enough so I then started pouring it in swirls/lines making sure to do it slowly so it wouldn’t sink to the bottom.

pink blue and sparkled nail polish floating in bowl

It spreads as it hits the water so don’t worry about that.

Next, I took a pencil and gently swirled the paint to make a “marble look”.

pink blue and sparkled nail polish floating bowl now swirled

Then I dipped the coaster into the water. Well, sort of parallel to the top of the water.

And when I pulled it out, this is what it looked like!! Oh my gosh! I had no idea what to expect and wow, how beautiful is that?

finished coaster with swirled blue and pink polish

If you look closely, you can see that exact swirl pattern that I picked up on this coaster above, in the water bowl photo above that.
That is the coolest thing ever!

I repeated that process and did the remaining 3. Isn’t it wild how different they all look?

coasters marbled drying on paper plates

I left them to dry on paper plates.

I decided not to seal them because they are made of absorbent material and I didn’t want to completely seal them up since they are coasters.
And I didn’t really feel the need to since it’s nail polish.

marbled coaster up close

So pretty.

4 blue and pink coasters on counter

pink flowers on dresser with coasters

I can’t wait to take these to the beach house.

top view of pink and blue coasters with pink flowers

AND I can’t wait to marble all the things! haha

close up top view of pink and blue coasters

The possibilities are endless colorwise.

coffee mug on marbled coasters

And I suppose even pattern-wise. You can create whatever you like, then dip and done!

I just seriously can not get over how easy this one. And how beautiful they turned out.

up close top view of marbled pink and blue coasters

It literally took me about 2 minutes to do them all.

And can we talk about these sparkles?

side view showing sparkles on coasters

Oh my, so glad I decided to add the sparkle polish.

sparkly polish on coasters

They really stole the show.

Think you’ll give this a try? (if you haven’t already…where have I been that I haven’t??)

PIN it to save it!

How to marble with nail polish...so easy! These coasters got a brand new look simply in about 2 minutes time! artsychicksrule.com #marblepolish #nailpolishcrafts #marblenailpolish

I hope you enjoyed my crafty craft today. It was so much fun.
And I really do want to marble all the things now. Hmmm…what else can I do this on? I’m on a mission! ha!

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

xoxo

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38 Comments

  1. Wowzers~! Nancy, these look fantastic! I love the colors you chose and, of course, the sparkles. Great job and I bet you had a blast making them.

    1. Thank you, Christina! It was so much fun…I am thinking of another thing I’m going to try it on…stay tuned! :) xo

    1. I would never think to use water with nail polish! So pretty and I love the sparkles! 💖 gotta get the coasters and give this a swirl!

      1. So fun, Cecilia! And with nail polish, if you mess up you can just grab some remover and try again! :) xo

    2. Oh, fun! I didn’t know that. I don’t think I’ve ever done marbling before. It was so fun! :) xo

  2. Amazing! I love your coaster “transformation.” What a clever idea to use nail polish, especially the sparkily ones! They are quite pretty and one of a kind! Good thing you hung on to those coasters. You never know when you might need to use them! Now you can marblize almost anything! Thanks for sharing. This just shows how creative you are!! Have fun and enjoy your weekend.

    1. Thank you, Sue! I figured with nail polish, if I messed up, I could just grab the remover, take it off and start again!! lol Thankfully I didn’t have to do that! :) xo

  3. Those are beautiful, great idea for unused nail polish. No stopping you now let the creativity continue.

  4. These turned out great! We used the same process in my daughter’s room for her light switches. It’s colorful and it gives some awesome, artistic personality to her room. And they’re so much fun!

  5. WOW!!! I’d have never EVER thought of this clever idea. They’re so cool and expensive looking, Nancy! I love the coastal colors, too. So cute!!!

  6. How pretty! I thought you were just going to paint it all on there lol. I never would have thought to float the polish in the water. I’m just wondering if they should be sealed since nail polish does chip? You’re so crafty and clever.

    1. Thanks, Debra! Haha…nope! Swirly swirl instead! ;) I don’t think these will chip at all. The coasters were that sort of rough-ish absorbent ceramic stuff so it’s stuck really well. xo

  7. Those look great, Nancy! And they will look perfect in your condo. They are so pretty… especially with the sparkles! One question, though. How did you dip them in the water without getting the polish all over your fingers and leaving white spots without polish where you held the coaster? Thanks! xo

      1. Hey Penny! Since they aren’t really covered completely (marbled with coaster showing through in areas) you can’t really tell where my fingers were at all. :) xo

    1. I love the sparkles in them the best! So glad I added that. Well, I think since they are not covered completely anyway, you can’t really tell where my fingers were holding them at all. :) xo

  8. These came out so very pretty! I marbilize everything by using spray paint. I spray the spray paint colors of my choice into a bowl of water, then dip my object in the same manner as you did with these. It always comes out unique and beautiful.

    1. Oh that’s a good idea too! I never would’ve thought of that. I will have to try it that way too. I used nail polish because I figured if I messed up, I could just use polish remover and try again! lol But thankfully I didn’t need to. I will definitely give the spray paint a whirl though! Thanks for the tip! xoxo

      1. I became addicted to marbling with spray paint. I did everything from vases to lighters to light switch covers, and they all came out amazing. The lighters sold like hotcakes to friends and several local businesses, upon the owners being shown them by those who had bought them from me, requested I make them to sell in their businesses. seriously, I was marbling absolutely anything I could get my hands on! LOL

  9. The coasters turned out to be very beautiful. What a good idea for using up nail polish. I’m not clear, though, about exactly how you dipped them in the water. I mean did you hold them just with your fingers on opposite edges to get the design onto the top surface? Whatever you did it certainly worked great. I am tempted to try something similar with a vase. What do you think?

    1. Thank you, Naomi! Yep, I held them just barely as to not have too much of my finger on there, on each side. Then I very slowly dipped the front side of the coaster onto the pattern on the water. (sort of slowly put one side edge down and then slowly rotated it down until the whole frontside was on the water if that makes sense) I didn’t submerge it completely, only the top…and then lifted it out of the water. I’ll tell ya, I thought for sure I was going to get not a thing on there as quick and simplistic as that was. But to my amazement, the paint had transferred immediately and it was perfect! So wild really. And so much fun.
      Oh yes, that is exactly the next thing I think I am going to try this on! Do it!! :) xo

  10. Yes… I was wondering too, how you held them to lay the surface flat against the polish/water, without having empty “finger marks” where you held them? And are they still plain white on the backs? Pictures of that part of the process would of been helpful. They turned out super cute!!

    1. Hi Janine! I held them just barely as to not have too much of my finger on there, on each side. Then I very slowly dipped the front side of the coaster onto the pattern on the water. (sort of slowly put one side edge down and then slowly rotated it down until the whole frontside was on the water if that makes sense) I didn’t submerge it completely, only the top…and then lifted it out of the water. I’ll tell ya, I thought for sure I was going to get not a thing on there as quick and simplistic as that was. But to my amazement, the paint had transferred immediately and it was perfect!
      Since they are not fully covered anyway, you can’t really tell where my fingers were. And no, the backs did not get marbled, just the fronts. The great thing about using finger nail polish, if any got on the back, you can easily remove it with polish remover. :) xo

  11. Oh my gosh! My granddaughter and I did this craft several years ago using a 9×13 pan for the liquid and we painted vases. They were amazingly simple to do and looked great. We forgot all about them….till now! Time to try it again with the new granddaughter! Thanks for the reminder!

  12. Love your coasters! I used this technique a couple years ago on the clear, plastic Christmas ornaments. They turned out beautiful! I could slip my finger into the hole after removing the hanger and slowly immerse the ornament. I made them in school colors and colors of decorating schemes. I did spray a sealer on them afterwards. The process is so addicting!

    1. Thanks, Deborah! Oh I love that idea! Ornaments would be perfect for this. I might have to try that this year! :) xo

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