Kids’ Craft: Marbled Paper

Cool Paper Crafts Using Shaving Cream and Food Coloring

Mar 20, 2007 Judith Zwolak

Here is an easy, inexpensive method to make marbled paper with shaving cream. It's a perfect, cheap craft for kids that yields beautiful marbled paper results.

Kids can make marbled paper using shaving cream and food coloring—items most of us find in our kitchen and bathroom cabinets. The results are stunning and perfect for cards, bookmarks and other paper crafts.

Materials:

1. Large baking pan
2. Cheap white shaving cream. Don’t use gel.
3. Assorted liquid food colors.
4. Popsicle sticks
5. Paper towels
6. White card stock

Food coloring stains clothing and other surfaces. Don your smocks and cover your work surface with newspaper.

Spray the shaving cream on the baking pan and spread it about a half-inch thick and slightly wider and longer than your paper.

Place a few drops of food coloring liquid over the shaving cream. With the popsicle stick, swirl the colors together and make a fun pattern. Don’t stir the colors together too long or you’ll end up with an undistinguished muddy brown mess.

Press the paper into the shaving cream, making sure the cream touches the entire surface of the paper. Carefully lift the paper from the cream and place it aside for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, carefully wipe the shaving cream from the card with paper towels. Your paper will sport swirls of color in a marbled pattern.

Let your papers dry completely and create a host of paper projects with your marbled masterpieces. The shaving cream scent will fade after awhile.

Here are some ideas:

Mount a smaller paper featuring artwork, stamped pictures or calligraphy on the marbled paper, which provides a gorgeous border and frame.

Create a bookmark: cut 2-inch-by-5-inch pieces of the paper using patterned scissors, punch a hole at the top and tie a ribbon through it.

Make a mini accordion-fold book. Cut an 8-1/2-by-11-inch paper in half lengthwise and fold the two resulting pieces into an accordion-style book. The resulting book can serve as a standing frame that displays eight different photos or pieces of artwork placed on each of its sections.

Fold a standard sized piece of marbled paper in half to serve as the backdrop for a beautiful card. Stamp or draw directly on the paper or cut and mount artwork on the colorful card stock.

The copyright of the article Kids’ Craft: Marbled Paper in Kids Crafts is owned by Judith Zwolak. Permission to republish Kids’ Craft: Marbled Paper in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.