Make an inexpensive vase look way more elegant with this DIY Marble Dipped Vessels tutorial! And can you believe we achieved this look with nail polish?!?
Marble runs a really close second (to all things gold) in my list of home decor obsessions.
We’ve created so many things like a DIY Marble Table Top and DIY Marble Clock.
The sad part about it is that it’s about as expensive to come by as gold is.
Plus, I can’t exactly carve it myself, though that would make me one killer DIY’er if I could.
Instead, I stick with the nail polish budget version (literally), and make my own DIY marble dipped vessels.
And this is not the first time we’ve used nail polish for a DIY! It’s also the main material for making these clay DIY photo holders.
We thought about using marbled shelf liner paper for this project, as we did with our DIY Marble Plates.
But we wanted to be able to get a sleek seamless look.
So I created my own color recipe to make a real faux marble pattern with polishes!
A lot of people have done similar projects with bright, neon colors.
But I feel you can’t go wrong with mixing a bit of traditional marble with your decor, no?
Materials and Tools Needed to Make DIY Marble Dipped Vase
Gray and black nail polish — You can just buy the cheap regular kind!
White ceramic vessels — I used ceramic vases from Target (that are currently sold out) but you can this is a similar one. I am also loving this ceramic vase set.
Plastic bowl
Warm water
Plastic fork or utensil — For stirring
Plastic cups — For practice first!
How to Make DIY Marble Dipped Vase
(Don’t mind the pink in here, this is my all-purpose painting bowl!)
This entire process is super simple.
You just have to keep in mind to move quickly or the nail polish will start to dry in the water.
And if it does, it won’t stick to your vessel evenly like you’re looking for with marble.
Essentially, it will leave weird bubbles and funky overlap where you don’t want it. So you can practice on cheap plastic cups first to get a feel for it!
1 — To get the right color consistency, we used 3parts of grey nail polish (about 3 drops of polish) to 1 part of black polish (1 drop).
2 — Then, we quickly gave it a stir with the end of a plastic utensil, and dipped the vessel in at about a 45 degree angle, making a twisting motion with our hand so that it swirled all around the vase..
3 — Let it set by flipping the vessel upside down until it’s dry to the touch.
You’ll have to repeat this process one by one for each vessel, and you can remove any excess dried nail polish in between coats by swirling the plastic utensil around the bowl to scoop the bad part out.
I kind of want to do this to everything now, but I’m refraining!
It’s kind of a running theme of mine every time I try something new that I love. I should just go ahead and get a shirt made that says “#idontknowwhentostop”.
But that could probably get easily misconstrued now that I think about it…
Styling Sources
CB2 marble hexagon serving board
If you’re looking for more DIY Vase and Glassware projects, see some of my favorites below!
DIY Marble Dipped Vase
Equipment
- Plastic bowl
- Plastic fork or utensil for stirring
Instructions
- To get the right color consistency, we used 3 parts of grey nail polish (about 3 drops of polish) to 1 part of black polish (1 drop).
- Quickly stir the nail polish mixture with the end of a plastic utensil, and dip in the vessel at about a 45 degree angle, making a twisting motion with our hand so that it swirls all around the vase.
- Let it set by flipping the vessel upside down until it’s dry to the touch. Remove any excess dried nail polish in between coats by swirling the plastic utensil around the bowl to scoop the bad part out.
Be sure to share your DIY Marble Dipped Vase with us on Instagram using the hashtag #sugarandclothloves, so we can follow along, too! We always love seeing all of your creations!
I want to make a marble pattern on a piece of acrylic plexi glass I bought for a wedding sign. Any tips??
Hi Lauren! The easiest way to create a marble look on plexiglass would be to use this Marble Contact Paper
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How long do you let it dry before you use them?
do you think i could do this on wood?
Hi Kait – We’ve never marbled wood, so I’m not quite sure! These vessels were super easy to DIY, so I recommend them most highly.
Sooooo trying this! thanks for the post :)
This diy is amazing ! the effect looks so good, i’ll do it for sure !
just have a little question : i went to the website where you found your 3 vessels, and they seem a little beige, so i would like to know if you painted them in white before making the marble effect ? Because they look very white to me compared to the ones i saw on the website…
Thanks for answering, and sorry if my english wasn’t perfect, it’s hard to be french ;)
you can definitely paint it first!
Wow, this marble effect looks really awesome! Can’t wait to try it. Your DIY tutorials are always so on point!
Love your ideas and art work!
i am going to try this project today! can you please let me know how much water to use, approximately works :)
This is very gorgeous and looks so elegant! I wonder if I can do the same with plates/bowls so I can get that marbelized look for macaron photos.
These are SO pretty! I love that you went the understated route, too. My mind is blown that nail polish can create something so lovely!!
Oh. Em. Gee. You have found a way to stop my hexagon obsession. Now I can marble everything that is void of color! #seriouslyIcan’tstopeither
BEAUTIFUL!! These look so classy and elegant :) Thanks for sharing!
oh! so fancy! I love how these turned out! I love marble so much too, I even dressed my son in a marble shirt today lol. thank you Gap!
This DIY project is so cool! I love marble pieces but, as you said, they tend to be very pricey. I’m definitely going to be trying out this technique!
-Helen
http://www.sweethelengrace.com
This is such an easy thing to do, and it give those bottles such an amazing look!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
I LOVE this! I am obsessed with all marble home decor and this is the perfect DIY!
xoxo,
Kim
ig: kimcasemyers
http://www.champagneista.blogspot.com
#marbleeverything and now i can purge all that unused nail polish!!
Wow! What a very cute and simple project! Add a little marble class without all of the marble price! :)
I love marble and gold, and these are seriously gorgeous! I can’t believe this was done with nail polish… Will have to practice though I feel before committing to dipping my vases haha
Love it! Any recommendations for where to buy cheap air plants to put inside?
this looks really amazing.