DIY Alcohol Ink! Make it yourself and clean out that box of old markers!
Wanna make your own alcohol ink? Alcohol Ink can give gorgeous results. SO MANY beautiful possibilities! And I wanted to try it. I wanted to try it on multiple mediums…including paper! I love to try new things, especially when they can be incorporated into my art!!
But the price of quality alcohol inks kept me from rushing out to get a bunch of colors (ok, kept me from putting a few sets in my amazon cart, ha ha).
So I did what I always do: I made it myself!
It was so easy to do, helped me clear out my old dried out markers, and created some beautiful paper that I then used for a few Fall/Thanksgiving cards. I want to share my steps with you:
Supplies for DIY alcohol ink:
- Rubbing Alcohol
- Travel bottles (2oz)
- Scissors
- Needle-nose pliers
- Old Markers
- I used dried-out crayola and sharpies, but others will work, too
- I used 2-3 markers of each color for each ounce of rubbing alcohol
- Gloves (unless you enjoy stained hands!)
- Newspaper or paper towels
Steps to make your own alcohol ink:
Steps to make your own alcohol ink:- Pour rubbing alcohol into the travel bottles until half-full. You want to leave room for the markers and the shaking.
- Organize your markers by color. Use scissors to pull off the top and bottom of the old markers. These came off easier than I thought they would, but can still be a bit messy! Use pliers to pull out the felt part on the inside of the marker that is soaked in ink. I left some of them inside their plastic sheaths, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. Do this one color at a time (and wipe off your tools between colors!).
- Drop the marker pieces into the travel bottle with rubbing alcohol. I used 2-3 markers of each color into each bottle. Close the top of the bottle.
- Swirl and shake the markers in the alcohol. You should see the ink becoming more and more pigmented.
- Repeat with other colors.
- Let these sit at least overnight. Carefully remove the felt marker pieces from the bottles. Now your alcohol ink is ready to use!!
I’ll post my creations and tutorials using these beautiful inks in the coming days and weeks. I’m so excited about this!!
Sneak peek at one way I used the inks for some Thanksgiving Cards!
You’ll love this fall card made with the inks, or this Christmas card made with the inks!
I hope you found this tutorial useful! If you have any questions, feel free to email me at laurascraftcloset@gmail.com. DIY alcohol ink was easier and took far less time than I had anticipated. Making these inks myself allowed me to get creative with my projects while learning the best techniques without worrying about “wasting” the inks. I can’t wait to share these with you, crafties!
These inks go a long way, but when I run out, I’ll feel more confident considering the fancy colors from the name brands…unless I make my own again!
Happy Crafting!
