Introduction: Nail Polish Marbled Flower Pots

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These nail polish marbled flower pots would make a unique and colorful addition to your backyard, garden, or home!

Since nail polish dries quickly, you'll get satisfyingly fast one-of-a-kind results.

You can also use this technique to marble pretty much anything, and you'll definitely want to!

Looking for more flower pot design ideas? Check out my Instructable for instructions on how to make a Drip Paint Flower Pot.

Step 1: Gather Your Supplies

You will need:

  • a flower pot
  • nail polish
  • disposable container that will fit your pot
  • toothpicks
  • gloves
  • paper towels
  • nail polish remover (acetone)
  • lukewarm/room-temperature water

Step 2: Paint Your Pot

I painted my pots with a white enamel spray paint so that the nail polish colors would pop. If you are using pastel-colored nail polish, you could probably leave your pot terracotta colored.

You can invert your pot over a tin can to keep it off of the ground while painting.

Step 3: Marble Your Nail Polish

Test your container to make sure your pot fits. The container doesn't have to be too deep because the nail polish should stay at the surface of the water, but it should be able to fit the length and width of your pot. The bigger the surface area, the better. A bigger surface area means more area for your marble design.

Nail polish marbling can be a bit tricky, so I would suggest that you practice a bit before trying it out on your pot. (To be honest, it took me more than a few tries to get the technique down.) Once you are comfortable with the technique, you will want to marble EVERYTHING!

Start by filling your container with lukewarm water. I tried hotter water, but I found water that was slightly warmer than room-temperature worked the best for me.

Put some gloves on when you start to work with the nail polish because removing nail polish from your hands can be a chore.

Pour your nail polish from the bottle to the water. Try to pour slowly and close to the surface of the water so that your nail polish doesn't sink to the bottom of the container in globs. The first color that you start with should be your lightest because it will spread out. If you are finding that the polish dries to quickly, or doesn't spread out, try adding a little bit of nail polish remover or acetone to the water.

Next, pour in your second color. Use a toothpick to swirl the colors and get a marble happening.

Limit the number of colors you use to 1-3.

*Since nail polish dries fairly quickly, you will need to work fast*

Step 4: Transfer Marble Design to Your Pot

Start at one end of your container and touch the side of your pot to the surface of the water. Rotate your pot so that the nail polish wraps around it. Place your pot on some paper towel to dry.

If your container wasn't big enough to have your marble design go all the away around your pot, you can repeat the process and marble some more. You can also marble over your dried marble design if you want to add more color. Change the water every time you make a new design.

Step 5: Seal Your Pot

Add a few coats of clear enamel paint to protect your design. Also seal the inside of your pot if you are using terracotta pots because terracotta likes to absorb water and the water might push off the paint.

Step 6: Done!