Tile Marbled Magnets using Nail Polish

As I sat looking at all of the little bottles of nail polish leftover from my daughter’s baby shower party favors, the idea for this project came to me.

Just by combining water and nail polish, you can make these easy DIY tile magnets marbled in any choice of colors.

It all starts by purchasing a few sheets of wall or floor tiles in smaller sizes at your local home improvement or flooring store.  I purchased these from Floor and Décor to make Christmas ornaments about two years ago. 

 

 

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This post is part of the Creative Craft Blog Hop hosted Each Month by Sara from Birdz of a Feather.

 

 

If you are visiting from Jenna’s site, The Painted Apron then welcome!  I know you will enjoy her Spring Bunny and Carrot Ribbon project this month.  At the very bottom of this post, I will direct you to the next stop on this blog hop venture, but I can assure you that you don’t want to miss any of the other talented bloggers participating this month. 

 

 

 

This project was so amazingly simple and easy I don’t know why I haven’t tried it sooner?

Below is the list of what you will need for this project:

• Nail polish in any choice of colors
• Small pieces of tile usually found in the flooring department and sold in sheets.
• Disposable gloves
• Plastic container for the water.  Preferably one you don’t plan to use again. I just used deli meat containers that were headed to the recycling center either way.
• Toothpicks
• Cotton Swabs
• Wax paper or paper plates
• E6000 glue
• Round craft magnets
• Metallic Acrylic paints
• Lukewarm water

 

 

 

To start, remove the individual tiles from the mesh backing.  Since you will be gluing the magnets to the back of the tile pieces, you don’t need the mesh backing.

Fill the container you are using with enough lukewarm water to be able to dip and submerge the tile pieces.

 

 

Slowly pour small amounts of nail polish on top of the water.  Add in too much at one time and it will be heavy and sink to the bottom of the container.  Add in each other color you want for your design to the mix.

 

 

Swirl the colors together using a toothpick.

 

 

Put on the rubber gloves and quickly dip the tile pieces in the water and nail polish mixture one by one using a cotton swab to wipe off the edges if needed.  I didn’t do this and some of my tiles have the nail polish mixture on the back as well.  Not as pretty on the back.

 

Was this blue nail polish mix a shock to you too after the pink mix prep photos?

Evidently I didn’t remember to take photos of the first batch of tiles I dipped in the pink nail polish solution I just shared above.  I didn’t realize it until I was editing the photos and then it was like – BAM – blue mix next in line!  The third batch in peach and orange colors were not photographed either for some reason.  But you get the main idea of the process.  

Just seeing if you were paying attention.

 

 

You will need to work quickly at this point because the nail polish has already started to thicken even in the water.

After dipping the tile in the mixture, place it on either wax paper or a paper plate to dry for a few hours. 

For mine, I let them dry overnight since I still needed to go to the store to get the magnets and the E6000 glue.  But in reality it should only take a couple of hours to fully dry the polish and the water on the tiles.

 

 

If you don’t like how one of them came out, nail polish remover will remove the polish from the tile so you can try it again.  And it works just as well on the back of the tiles to remove the excess. 

 

Once the tiles were dry, I added some extra veining and details to the nail polish marbled pattern using a gold metallic acrylic paint. Allow that paint to dry as well. 

The next step is not required or listed above, but at the last minute, I decided spray each tile with Rust-Oleum Triple Thick Glaze.  Because to me, marble always has a nice shiny surface. Since this project is using nail polish that pretty much seals and hardens on it’s own, adding in a top glaze is not necessary if you don’t have the top glaze spray available. 

 

 

 

And of course to be able to display these one of a kind designs, you need to attach the magnets to the back of each tile using the E6000 glue. I have found that hot glue doesn’t hold up very long with the weight of these tile pieces. 

 

 

During my craft room cleanout, I also pulled out the box with the Fujifilm Instax Mini Instant Camera and film leftover from my daughter’s wedding and decided to make a fun little photo gallery of my daily companions – our four dogs – to display on the refrigerator with these tile magnets. 

 

 

 

 

 

Pin For Later

 

 

Please take some time and visit the other amazing and talented bloggers who participated in the blog hop this month, starting with Sara and her tutorial on How to Remove Rust From Metal. 

 

2 Cute DIY Planters for St. Patrick’s Day

Mini Mushroom Garden Sign Makeover

DIY Texture Bunny Wall Plaque

Flower Leaf Cord Wrapped Basket

Easter Photo Frame Craft with Bunnies

Spring Bunny & Ribbon Carrot

Tile Marbled Magnets using Nail Polish

How to Remove Rust From Metal

St. Patrick’s Day Garland

Spring Bunny Mantel Decoration

DIY Riser

 

 

 

Enjoy,

Psalm 139:17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!