How to Marble Paper With Shaving Cream - Easy Kids Craft

You need liquid watercolours or food colouring, a can of white foaming shaving cream, and a baking tray with a rim. Add a craft stick or a wooden skewer for swirling, and an old gift card, credit card or piece of cardboard for scraping. Jackie also pours her colours into an ice cube tray and uses droppers, though you can drip straight from the bottle.

Spray the shaving cream across the baking tray until you have mounds covering most of the bottom. Use the white foaming kind, not gel. Kids love doing this part, so hand them the can. Aim for enough foam to make a layer about half an inch to an inch deep once it is spread out flat.

Take your plastic card and spread the foam evenly over the tray, the way you would ice a cake. You want a smooth, fairly level surface so the paper touches the colour everywhere when you press it down. It does not need to be perfect. A few ridges are fine and can even add texture to the pattern.

Now drip your colours all over the shaving cream. Jackie starts with red, then adds pink, purple and blue until the white is dotted with colour. Use the colours full strength for a bold result, or water them down a little for a softer, pastel look. Spread the drops across the whole tray so every part of the paper picks up colour.

Take a craft stick or skewer and drag it through the drops in loops and zigzags. The colours stretch into ribbons and feathers across the foam. Keep going until the whole tray is swirled, but stop before it all turns one colour. The white gaps between the streaks are what make the marbled pattern stand out.

Lay a sheet of paper on top of the shaving cream. Printer paper works fine, and cardstock works too. Gently press it down with your fingertips all over so the whole sheet touches the foam. Do not push hard or slide it around, or the pattern smears. You only want good contact from edge to edge.

Peel the paper up from one corner and lift it off the tray. The underside comes up coated in coloured foam, and you can already see the swirls showing through. Lay it foam side up on the table. Jackie lets it sit for a few seconds so the colour has a moment to soak into the paper before she scrapes.

Hold the paper flat and drag your card across it to scrape the foam away. Wipe the card on the edge of the tray between passes. Underneath, the colour stays on the paper in crisp marbled swirls. Set it on a baking sheet or a covered table to dry. It dries quickly, usually within the hour.

You can keep using the same tray. Press a second sheet onto the foam, lift it and scrape it as before. As the pattern starts to fade, drip in a little more colour and give it a light swirl. You do not need much, because the tray already has a good base. A few new drops bring the definition back.

For a calmer look, drag your card across the coloured foam to smooth it flat. This blends the swirls into long streaks, and the next sheet comes out softer and more subtle. Drip in a few new colours if you like. Keep working the same tray, refreshing it as you go, until the shaving cream is used up.