Marbling Pretty Postcards

I used to love using the paper marbling technique as a child. I put it on my list of 101 things for myself as much as wanting to introduce Cameron to it.

My original plan was to make writing paper but we ended up using some plain white postcards because we tend to write more postcards than long letters and we already had some in the house.

Cameron has some sensory issues around using paints so this activity was really great in that he didn't have to get his hands in it much, and the results are quick. Also, he could wash his hands in between postcards to minimize any texture he didn't like.

Marbling inks are quite widely available. None of our local art or toy shops had them, but they don't tend to have much of what we want locally lately so we bought these ones, discounted because they were pre-used, on eBay. They look quite expensive on first glance, but you only need a little for the activity, so they would be a good group-share purchase if you're lucky enough to have friends who are interested in trying it out too.

We had a lot of fun with this and the sun even shone through the kitchen window for a while, making the colours and patterns even more beautiful.

I quite fancy the idea of marbling some eggs at Easter but am not entirely sure how we would dry them - that needs some more thought.

One more thing to mention about marbling - wear old clothes/aprons etc. The inks are oil based and will stain - I, unfortunately, found this out the hard way and my lovely Beatrix Potter apron looks rather odd with multi-coloured finger marks all over it! On the plus side, you can use them for marbling on fabric if the fancy takes you.

More info on Paper Marbling here.