DIY Marbled Pendants

Okay, so earlier this week we established that I am basically obsessed with shrinky dinks right?  Well I just really can't help myself, I've been using them again!  

 Does anyone else see a dragon in this one or is it just me??

 

First, check out this video tutorial on how to marble glass with nail polish.  I saw something similar a while back on Pinterest but I couldn't get a good handle on how it actually worked.  The video makes it seem really easy but it shows the general process.  

I didn't actually take any photos during because you have to move really fast to get them to turn out...I mean really fast...no dilly dallying allowed here.

 There is a lot of trial and error involved in this, or at least for me.  The video makes it look really simple but it took me about a million tries to actually get one to turn out well.

I used an old jar lid with water to make mine.  You really don't need much water maybe 1/2", just enough to keep the nail polish suspended and keep it from touching the container bottom.

The video says to use a few drops of clear nail polish first which honestly did not work well for me.  I think the problem was that my clear polish is supposed to dry in 60 seconds, so it formed this kind of dry film almost instantly when it hit the water.  And when the polish is dry it causes problems...I ended up just using a drop of the blue polish first, which spread out completely and then did alternating drops from there.

You will have to play around with your polish a bit because each polish has a different consistency and will spread differently.  For example, the blue polish spread really quickly but the silver was thicker and slower moving.

But you want to do it as fast as you can because once it starts to dry you won't be able to run your toothpick through it to get the marbling effect.  It basically becomes this dry nail polish film on top of the water which is basically useless.  Which happened to me a LOT.  But don't give up!  I could only make 2 the first night I tried and when I tried again the next day I cranked out the next 4 pretty quickly.

Oh, and to dip the pendants, I just used a little bit of clay, stuck it to the back and dipped.  You do want to dip at an angle to avoid air bubbles then I just gently dabbed the water droplets with a paper towel so it could dry.  

I think I will have to play around with this technique more...once you get the hang of it it's really fun to keep making them.  They could make really unique little charms for favors or gifts too. 

Linking up here.