Leftover Paint Pour Projects
For my original post on paint pouring, see HERE. You can also check out Leftover Paint Pour Projects Part 2 for more ideas.
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Paint pouring is messy fun. The art pieces you create are beautiful by themselves, but I think the paint drippings on the tablecloth are just as pretty. After my first pours, I was looking at the tablecloth and thinking that it seemed a shame to throw away such prettiness. I discovered that I could actually peel up the paint in sheets, but I still had no idea what to do with it.
The first idea I had was to turn them into pendants. Turns out that isn’t exactly a new idea—it’s called making jewelry out of acrylic skins—but it still took me a bit of time to figure out what supplies to search for on Amazon. Ultimately I ordered some “pendant trays” with cabochons. Pendant Trays with Cabochons
These are all round, but I love the variety of colors. Round Pendant Trays
From my online research, it sounded like the best glue to use is something called Diamond Glaze, so I ordered some from Amazon. Diamond Glaze 2oz
This is the size I ordered: Diamond Glaze 8oz
A couple of quick notes here. This works best if you can just peel up the paint in sheets off of your work surface. For my first pour, I used a cheap disposable tablecloth, which left a subtle texture to the paint, but I was still able to peel it up. I’ve since bought a shower curtain liner that is very smooth and should be even easier to peel paint off of, so I’m excited to see what my paint skins look like.
To start, lay out a piece of paint. Move the cabochon over it to find an especially pretty spot, and then trace the cabochon. Cut out the shape. I used a craft knife, but scissors would also work.
Use a little bit of Diamond Glaze to attach the paint to the pendant, and then another little bit on top of the paint before you put the cabochon on top. Press down really hard, and some glue will probably squeeze out the sides. I used a baby wipe to quickly wipe up the excess before it had a chance to dry. You could use a damp paper towel as well. The trick is just to clean up before the glue dries.
It’s important to keep pressure on the pendants to keep air pockets from forming under the cabochons, so I used a book for this. I put the first pendant under the book, and then each time I made another one I’d do the same. I left them under there until the next day, and then they were ready to go.
I think what I like best about this project is that each pendant is unique. Depending on the colors you use, you can get some very different looking pendants out of one paint skin. I used a bunch of colors in my original pours, so I had a lot of color options for my pendants.
After that I still didn’t feel like I was done with the excess paint, so I made a piece of art to hang on the wall. I have a butterfly paper punch, so I used that to cut butterflies out of the sheets of paint. You could also draw whatever shape(s) you want and cut them out with scissors. I had found a frame that I really liked, so I arranged the butterflies in that. I held them in place with glue dots. There are so many possibilities here. Hearts? Stars? Flowers? Birds? I do actually have a bird punch… maybe that’ll be my next project. I even remember reading somewhere that you can make roses out of the paint skins. How cool would that be?!
If you decide to store your paint skins, make sure you put something like wax paper between the layers. I learned that lesson the hard way. I still have plenty of paint skins, but I’m not sure any of them are usable anymore. That’s okay; it just gives me more incentive to make more!
