Let's Make Spray Paint!

                       

With just a few inexpensive products, you can make your own mini spray paints to enhance note cards, journals, and more! Just how do you do that? Read on...

Supplies Needed:

• Several travel-sized spray bottles (3-4 ounce size)
• Several acrylic paints in your favorite colors
• Rubbing alcohol (optional)
• Small funnel (optional)

How to Make This:

• Carefully fill the spray bottles 3/4 full with the rubbing alcohol. This is where the funnel comes in handy, if you have one.

• I found that using rubbing alcohol helps to dry the paint more quickly on paper. Tap water works just fine in place of the alcohol but takes a bit longer to dry. The paint quality and color appears to be the same no matter what method you choose.

• Add paint so that the bottom of the bottle is covered.
• Once you test your spray, you can decide whether you would like to add more paint for greater color intensity. 
• Put the spray nozzle back into the bottle and shake her up!

I know you're anxious at this point to start spraying your masterpiece but test your spray on a separate sheet of paper first to make sure you like the color intensity and that the sprayer itself isn't faulty. Strangely, some bottles operated better than others - some sprayed a nice mist of color and others made splotches and drops. I found bottles that work well bought from local drug stores and I've found some good ones just by using my old perfume bottles.

Hold your hand upright several inches up from the test paper and start spraying away. It's magical! Once the first spray has begun to dry, you can spray the area again for a deeper color result. 

Other tips:

• Use metallic paint for a shiny look.
• Lay a stencil on your paper, spray it, and remove the stencil to reveal your creation.
• Spray one color on the page, lay down a stencil, spray a second or third color. ohhhh!
• Wipe the nozzle after use so that the bottle doesn't get messy or clogged.
• Other than acrylic paints, I've read that Rit dye and old eye shadows can be used for color. I haven't tried this yet but let me know if you have - I would love to know your results!