DIY Pebble Family Art
I have a quick and easy project for you today. It’s funny how some of my favorite and most meaningful projects have been the simplest to make. This is one of them. Have you seen pebble art? You can spend a lot of money buying it, but it is SO EASY to make yourself! The most time-consuming part is finding pebbles you want to use.
The cool thing about doing this yourself is that you aren’t limited to a certain number of family members, and you can even include your pets! You could even add to it if your family grows.
I’ve always loved rocks. As a kid I had quite the collection displayed on my dresser, right alongside the miniature animals I also collected. I remember being at a pumpkin patch when our oldest was a toddler, and even with all of the activity around us, she was perfectly content to sit in the gravel playing with the rocks. I thought, Oh… yeah, that’s my kid. Even as an adult I’ve collected rocks in creek beds, our yard, or wherever else I happen to see them. (We leave the landscaping rocks alone… those are expensive.) I have a particular fondness for perfectly round/smooth or heart-shaped rocks.
I also discovered, though, that you can buy a jar/bag of pebbles from the floral department of craft stores. For this project I used a combination of rocks that I’d found and some I’d bought.
The list of supplies you need for this is really very short.
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Supplies:
- Pebbles
- Glue (hot glue or E6000)
- Shadowbox frame
Optional:
- Marker
- Paper/cardstock
- Mod Podge
As I said earlier, I used a combination of pebbles I’d bought and found. I was looking for round pebbles for our heads and taller, more oval-like pebbles for our bodies. I even lucked into a small triangle-shaped pebble that was perfect for our dog’s head. As a bonus, I decided to include one of my heart-shaped rocks.
When I opened up my frame, I discovered I really liked the look of the back board. It fit perfectly with the natural look of the rocks. So that was easy.
I had considered using scrapbook paper or cardstock as a background, but I was concerned about being able to attach it in a way that the weight of the rocks wouldn’t pull it down. Here’s what I think I’d do if I made another one: I would cut the scrapbook paper slightly smaller than the backboard of the frame and then use Mod Podge to attach it. That ought to make a pretty solid surface to work with.
But since I was using leaving the back board alone, I was ready to glue immediately! I used E6000 because it’s my go-to, but I think hot glue would also work perfectly well. I played with the placement of the pebbles until I was happy with the arrangement and the combination of heads/bodies (that sounds SO weird), and then I carefully glued them down. Because I used E6000, I had to wait until it dried. In the future I think I’ll do a combination of hot glue and E6000. The hot glue will keep the pebbles in place immediately, but they’ll get the extra sticking power of the E6000.
After I reassembled the framed, I was done! I love this little representation of my family.
A few other thoughts…
I’ve come across some other ideas that I thought were neat, such as using a stick for the family to “stand” on or using a marker to write something around the family. You could do a family name or a special saying. You could even use a cutting machine to cut out the text.
I haven’t ventured too far down the rabbit hole of pebble art, but I have a friend who told me there is a whole lot out there. So there are tons of other possibilities, particularly if you’ve bought some pebbles and want to use them somehow.
I have another related idea that I’m hoping to share this fall, and I can’t wait.
Happy crafting!
