The holiday gift-giving season is upon us, and all kinds of presents will be in need of packaging. But it’s not just for this time of year- try grabbing those markers ANY time you give a present to someone and turn plain ‘ol boxes, bags, and tags into unique works of art that help your gifts look extra special. 🙂
Some marker recommendations and projects that we tried this year at Markerland:
Ink Marbling
A super easy (and pretty fun) way to create one-of-a-kind marbling designs on paper surfaces is with Zig Kurecolor Refill Ink and shaving cream!
Just make a tray of foam shaving cream. Drop some ink here and there around the foam. Then swirl the drops around however you like!
Then take your bag, tag, card, etc. (the thicker the better, to help it from curling up with the wet foam) and press the surface into the swirls. Pull it back up and scrape off the foam.
You’ll be left with one-of-a-kind marbled art!
Try it on craft bags, paper tags, cardboard ornaments, or handmade cards!
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Custom Ziploc Goody Bags
Take some simple Ziploc bags, doodle them up, and fill them with treats!
Oil-based paint markers work best on these smooth, slippery surfaces, and will hold up when the bag wrinkles as it’s used.
Try the: Marvy Decocolor, Zig Painty, Pebeo 4Artist
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Re-Decorated Gift Boxes
Thrift stores usually have a ton of gift boxes- they just may not be the designs you want. Dollar stores have lots of them for great prices, but they are often only plain white or a single color. If you want to add a little more decoration, there are plenty of good, opaque markers that can cover the old box completely- letting you make your own custom designs for the occasion!
Some markers we used for our boxes:
–Marvy Easy Chalkboard Marker
–Marvy Decocolor Acrylic
–Sharpie Poster Paint
–Posca Paint Markers
If you find an unfinished wooden box, see our Image Transfer Blog HERE to find out a fun way to customize it!
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Personalized Storage Boxes
Sometimes boxes can BE the gifts themselves!!
We love this gift idea from Jennifer, for her daughter & friends’ Shopkins toys!
Again we found that using oil-based markers (like the Zig Painty markers used here) gave great permanent results on smooth surfaces like plastic.
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Have you made custom gift boxes, bags, or tags using markers?
Let us know how your project turned out!
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And check out www.markersupply.com for PLENTY more markers and pens you can use to help your gifts stand out!
Happy Spring everyone! This beautiful time of year has plenty of holidays where more marker-made crafts can be fun to give AND to make! Here are a few of the projects happening at Markerland this week:
TIE-DYE FLOWERS!
Another version of the up-and-coming art of Sharpie Tie-Dye! Growing in its popularity among fabric crafts, this neat effect using regular Sharpie markers and rubbing alcohol can turn old fabric flowers into a colorful new bouquet!
The next time white flowers are all you can find- try this!
Take 2 or 3 sharpies of complementary colors. Scribble around a little on each flower petal. A little ink will go a long way, so you don’t have to color in all the white space.
Then using a dropper or spray bottle, apply some rubbing alcohol to the colored petals. Watch the ink begin to immediately spread around! The full effect will happen within a few minutes. It helps when the flowers can detach from the stems for coloring. Either way, paper towels are great to have on hand for controlling any drips!
TIP: Use 91% alcohol, as opposed to a lower percentage. See the difference in using each type for Sharpie blending:
Experiment with different color schemes.. Try warm colors, cool colors, or a blend of a little dark with some light. See what awesome designs you can create!
This simple process can turn your old, plain flowers into new works of art!!
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GIFT BASKETS!
Grab some old baskets and give them a new splash of color! As always, thrift stores and yard sales are excellent places to pick up cheap, plain-colored baskets that are perfect to use!
Make repetitive patterns, go crazy with your favorite colors, or add in some little details!
Use markers with a chisel tip or brush tip to get color along straight lines and edges.
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PAINTED EGGS!
A fun tradition for many! This year instead of using messy dyes, try markers! You can have more control over your designs, and the artwork style possibilities are so much greater!
You can use plastic eggs or real eggs- either hard boil them or, to save the egg inside, use an egg blowing technique (poking a small hole in each end of the egg with a pin, nail, etc. and blowing the contents into a bowl) or for a quicker way- gently tap one end of a raw egg on a hard surface so it starts to crack. Carefully peel away some shell pieces- just enough to shake out the egg into a bowl to be used separately for something delicious! Rinse out the shell with water and let dry. Then they will be empty but are only missing a small part of the end (which can be useful for helping them stand up!) ..and then they are ready to decorate any way you like!
TIP: When doing these crafts with young kids, use caution with the types of markers you use. Paint markers can do some nice work, but are often oil-based or contain harmful ingredients like Xylene. Make sure to have water-based, Xylene-free markers on hand when crafting with the kiddos.
These super simple and inexpensive crafts are great pastimes for people of all ages! And the finished products make fun decorations for springtime holidays!
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Some recommended markers for Springtime (or anytime!) crafts:
* Zig Fabricolor Fine Tip– These markers aren’t just for fabrics!! They come in a nice range of basic, opaque colors that look great on many surfaces! The light-colored Gold especially stuck out for us in these crafts.
* Sharpie Markers– These come in fine, extra/ultra fine, and chisel tips that are great for crafting! The look Sharpie ink had on our decorated baskets was velvety and awesome! Also use for a variety of rubbing alcohol blending projects. Try the multipack with 16 colors!!
* Sakura Identipen– A handy little permanent marking pen for basic black lettering and designs. (Although it’s also available in different colors..) Has a fine tip on one end, and an extra fine tip on the other!
* Zig Woodcraft and Marvy Decocolor Acrylic Paint Markers- nice water-based, chisel tip choices for adding color to your crafts!
* Marvy Bistro Chalk Markers– Looking for good fluorescent colors that pop? Best for use on non-porous surfaces, the fluorescent Bistro markers are nice and bright!!
*Zig Chalk Pastel Markers- ‘Tis the season for pastels! These dual tip markers are available in a fine/bullet tip (Writer) or fine/chisel tip (Calligraphy). These nice pastel colors are great for drawing/lettering on cards and paper crafts!
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Have any neat marker project ideas you’d like to share? Visit/Tag us on Facebook (Marker Supply), Twitter (@MarkerSupply), Instagram (#MarkerSupply), or Pinterest (MarkerSupply)!
Valentine’s Day is coming up, and for those of you who get into the cards and crafts of the season, we’ve got some neat do-it-yourself ideas that are as fun to make as they are to give! These quick, easy, and inexpensive projects work great for special occasions all year long!
Ink Marbling Shaving Cream Cards
A great feature of the Zig Kurecolor markers is that they are refillable… But there are other uses for those bottles of Kurecolor Refill Ink!
This really fun project for creating cards is a simple and quick way to make some awesome designs!
What you’ll need:
–Bottles of Kurecolor Ink (you can use just one color, or 2-3 color shades that complement each other)
-Shaving Cream (make sure it’s the FOAM, and not the GEL. If you only have the gel kind, you can work it into foam with your hands first. )
-White card stock or paper (it can be cut into the shape you want before or after coloring)
-Plate or tray (to be your shaving cream surface)
-Swirling Stick (popsicle stick, chopstick, etc.- something to swirl the ink drops slightly)
-Scraper (something flat to scrape the shaving cream off of the paper)
-Paper Towels/Rubber gloves (whatever will help you keep things clean as you work)
**Use caution with the Kurecolor ink. It is alcohol-based and can stain the surfaces that it gets on! Also, the ink content makes this project not suitable for young children to do.
The process:
Make a layer of shaving cream in your tray. Using just a few dots of the ink, squeeze a few drops around the cream. Then swirl them around slightly.
Lay your paper facedown over the top of the cream/ink swirl mixture and press it down slightly- making sure each part of the paper comes in contact with the mixture. And then gently lift the paper back out!
Using a scraper, squeegee, or something flat- scrape off the shaving cream. Once it dries a little, you can use a paper towel to clean off any excess shaving cream residue.
Your paper should be left with a unique marbled ink design!
Experiment with different colors and swirling techniques to see what amazing looks you can create! Once your papers are dry, you can then write on them or paste cut-outs on top to make one-of-a-kind cards and valentines!
Calligraphy pens and “Two-tone tip” flowers
Another quick and easy way to make your cards have a fancy, professional look is to make some “two tone chisel tip” designs!
Use a Zig Memory System Calligraphy Marker in a light color (we used Baby Pink) then take a darker color (we used Rose) in a marker like the split-tip Scroll and Brush and touch the darker marker to one edge of the lighter Calligraphy marker to let the color soak in a little bit.
This temporarily allows you to write with 2 colors in each stroke of one pen! Make some curvy line “S” shapes in a circle to make flowers!
These dual chisel tip markers are great for versatile lettering as well- combine writing and drawing with them to make your Valentine’s cards really stand out!
Personalized Flower Vases / Coffee Mug Gift Baskets
Giving your Valentine flowers and sweet treats is a common tradition. Take that idea one step further and give your gifts in a personalized vase or mug!
Get a plain mug, vase, flower pot, etc. and use paint markers to make a custom design on them! If you paint an item that you plan to wash, stick with Pebeo paints and markers. They are specially designed for use on glass, porcelain, and china dishes and will stay on even if the dish is washed!
**Read our blog about dish decorating to see more tips on how to correctly do a craft like this!
Then add some goodies to your dish and there you have it- a great gift with that homemade touch!
Marker Supply has a huge variety of pens and markers for any type of Valentine’s Day projects.. From cards and invitations, to mugs and vases, to fabric crafts, to posters and signs- we’ll have what you need to make everyone LOVE your Love Day projects!
