Marble runs a really close second (to all things gold) in my list of home decor obsessions. 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.
I thought about using marbled shelf liner paper for this project but I 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 the bright, neon colors, but I feel like you can’t go wrong with mixing a bit of traditional marble in with your decor, no?
Gray and black nail polish (you can just buy the cheap regular kind!)
White ceramic vessels (I used these)
Plastic bowl
Warm water
Plastic fork or utensil (for stirring)
Plastic cups (for practice first!)
(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, because the nail polish will start to dry in the water and 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!
To get the right color consistency, I used three parts grey nail polish (about three drops of polish), to one part black polish (one drop), then 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 my hand so that it swirled all the around the vase. 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: Rejuvenation lamp // CB2 marble hexagon serving board // Moorea Seal punched pouch // Moorea Seal gold bangle
Elsa
06.24.15
this looks really amazing.
Melanie
06.24.15
Love it! Any recommendations for where to buy cheap air plants to put inside?
Julia
06.24.15
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
Jane Gordon
06.24.15
Wow! What a very cute and simple project! Add a little marble class without all of the marble price! :)
amanda @ on the corner of brodhead
06.24.15
#marbleeverything and now i can purge all that unused nail polish!!
Kim Myers
06.24.15
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
Paige
06.24.15
This is such an easy thing to do, and it give those bottles such an amazing look!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Helen
06.24.15
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
brittanyMakes
06.24.15
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!
Georgia @ Silver Spiral Studio
06.24.15
BEAUTIFUL!! These look so classy and elegant :) Thanks for sharing!
Amy Liz
06.26.15
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
Carrie
06.26.15
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!!
Linda
06.29.15
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.
emily
08.15.15
i am going to try this project today! can you please let me know how much water to use, approximately works :)
Donna
08.20.15
Love your ideas and art work!
Frances
09.23.15
Wow, this marble effect looks really awesome! Can’t wait to try it. Your DIY tutorials are always so on point!
claire
02.28.16
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 ;)
Ashley said:
you can definitely paint it first!
Jess
05.12.16
Sooooo trying this! thanks for the post :)
kAit
11.07.16
do you think i could do this on wood?
Ashley said:
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.