Are you one of the many people who enjoyed collecting stones during their childhood? If you think back to this wonderful time with a smile on your face, it's probably time to start looking againpretty stonesclose. Because even more beautiful than collecting them during a pleasant walk is the subsequent design of the unique finds. Have you ever heard of the so-called lucky stones or that you can paint lucky stones?
If not, you should do it quickly because, like mandalas, designing lucky stones yourself has a calming and stress-relieving effect. Where the tradition comes from, why it is so friendly and above allpersonal lucky charmWe will explain to you in the following lines what you can use and what you need if you want to paint lucky stones.
Like so many things, the idea comes from...Painting stonesfrom the USA. From there the trend spread to England and finally to Germany. But what is it about? It is simply a hobby in which stones are made as desired and with a wide variety of motifs and patterns or even wordspainted and labeledand then “released” again somewhere outdoors. The colorful stones should then put a smile on the faces of those who find them and can be hidden or kept.
There are various Facebook groups in which the stones found are shown. And thanks to the unique motifs, you also know how far the respective lucky stone has traveled if it was published in the group. An interesting trend that more or less brings people together and encourages them to collect and make their own, to give away and to hide.
And the best thing: you don't have to be an artist or have a special talent for painting. There are no rules for the motifs and patterns, so everyone can try it once. Dare! Children also have a lot of fun with this craft and painting idea, so you can choose it for an afternoon together, as an activity at a children's birthday party or for kindergarten. Whether at Easter,for Christmasor just like that – there are countless variations.
Mark stones at weddings
The Irish also have an interesting tradition at weddings. It is customary there that stones are provided to guests, who then write their wishes on them. The inscribed stones are then thrown into the water to become fulfilled. Since it is a really beautiful custom, many brides and grooms nowadays use the idea as aAlternative to the guest bookor in addition to it. The guests should paint stones for the wedding, which the bride and groom will then keep as a memory for the rest of their lives.
But there is another way to use lucky stones for a wedding: the bride and groom can paint their own lucky stones in advance and then use them as guest gifts. You can come up with something very individual and personal for each guest or you can simply label them with their names and the date of the wedding. In any case, the lucky charm will be a hit as a guest gift.
Lucky stones to give away
In general, such lucky charms are a really great gift idea. Everyone can use a little extra luck and since our society can be quite superstitious and believe in lucky charms, you're sure to hit the spot with this gift idea. If you make the lucky stones yourself, you can adapt them wonderfully to the occasion and, above all, to the person and thus bring a lot of joy.
But how can you paint lucky stones, which colors and pens do you need and are suitable and which motifs are best?
Painting lucky stones and labeling stones – which pens and colors?
There are very good opaque colors available these days, but if you're not sure whether yours are one of them, you can play it safe and paint the sides you want to paint for the lucky stones white. This ensures that the colors then come into their own and shine beautifully. Simply use white acrylic paint and brushes for this purpose or white wall paint. Once the white background has dried, you can make the lucky stones yourself by painting and labeling them.
It is best to use acrylic paints for painting. You can sketch the desired pattern or motif thinly in pencil beforehand. A touch-up pen is well suited for writing on or drawing contours. Especially if you want to seal your work with acrylic varnish or nail polish at the end, you should not use a waterproof fineliner as it will dissolve again through the varnish.
Alsoadditional itemscan be useful when painting lucky stones. For example, simple ear sticks and toothpicks are suitable for dots, straws for small circles, or the edge of cardboard for straight lines. With a sponge you can create even transitions from one color to another by carefully dabbing the colors.
Making lucky charms out of stones – instructions and inspiration
We now have it for all beginnersa few simple instructions, with which you can paint, label and design beautiful lucky stones. There is also an original idea with leaf metal that you are guaranteed to fall in love with straight away. In the video you can see how abeautiful mandalacan be drawn.You should clean all stones in advance and then allow them to dry thoroughly.Have fun imitating and be creative!
Painting lucky stones – rainbow with tree
- POSCA Marker
- Stones
Start painting the color stripes for the rainbow with dots on the stone. First of all, the points should not be too close to each other. Only dab here and there so you can divide the stone better and more evenly. Also, don't forget to leave enough space at the bottom for the tree trunk. If you use this brand of pen, press very lightly otherwise the dots will become very wet and dry slowly.
Once you have marked the rainbow stripes, you can add more dots and paint them closer together. Also let the different colors blend into each other by overlapping the dots at the color edges. The colors should now dry thoroughly before you continue with the tree. Using a suitable, thin fineliner, draw a triangle at the bottom of the free area and start drawing the branches from above to form the triangle. Allow them to thicken towards the bottom. Finally, extend the side corners of the triangle and color it in.
Pebbles with a marble effect
If you find this design so beautiful and would like to paint lucky stones in this way, all you need is acrylic paint and a few other things. We have already covered how you mix the colors for such purposes and what other materials you needexplained in another article.
Simply follow the instructions there (you can also leave out the hair oil for the stones), except that you mix the colors in smaller quantities in a paper cup. Spread shish kebab skewers on a disposable plastic tray (like a grill rack), place the stones on top and pour the finished mixed color over them. After you paint lucky stones in this way, you can not only give them as gifts, but also flower pots and bedsDecorate your house and garden with them. It is best to seal your design with varnish.
Painting stones as a lucky charm - transfer printed motifs onto stones
In the picture above you can really seesimple angels, which you can definitely paint yourself. If necessary, you can also print out an angel (or any other motif) and transfer it to the stone using tracing paper. It works like this:
- Place the tracing paper on your template and trace the motif.
- Turn the tracing paper over so that the design is facing down and rub over it with a soft pencil.
- Place this page with the doodle on the stone and trace the design again with a hard pencil. The particles from the scribbled page are transferred to the stone.
- Trace the motif with a suitable fineliner (e.g. POSCA).
Do you have that?Transfer motif, you can design it however you want using acrylic paints. Among other things, pretty gold was used for the angels.
Painting simple sheep
How about such cute sheep? First paint any background (if you want) and then, once the paint is dry, paint a head on the stone. Let this dry too, then paint the sheepskin onto the pebble with white dots of different sizes (don't forget the eyes either). Finally, a few legs are added. If you wish, you can also paint the lucky stones by adding grass and flowers.
You can create even points using simple household items. For example, you can get large dots with the eraser of a pencil, medium-sized ones can be painted with cotton swabs and particularly small ones with the pointed side of a colored pencil or pencil (you can then wash off the paint and continue to use the pencil as normal) or with toothpicks. Instead of dots, small spirals can also be painted.
Apply gold leaf and copper leaf to the stones
Although leaves were chosen as the motif in the example, you can of course come up with any other silhouettes you like. Just make sure that it is a motif that can be recognized afterwards. Hearts, stars, flowers and many other things are ideal. It's best to prepare a stencil if you don't feel comfortable drawing the motif yourself. Print the image, cut it out and transfer it to the stone, tracing the outline. Otherwise you need:
- Leaf metal, e.g. gold leaf, silver leaf or copper leaf
- Leaf metal glue (applying milk)
- Clear varnish for sealing
- several brushes
If you want to make these interesting lucky charms, you should, as already mentioned, first draw the motif on the stone with a pencil. Then paint it with the glue and place the metal leaf over it. Then use a dry, thick brush to paint over the metal leaf to press it onto the adhesive. The part that is not on glue should fall off. If not, gently pull it off by hand.
If your design develops cracks or holes that you don't like, you can fill them with small pieces of metal leaf. Then seal the stone with the clear varnish and let it dry thoroughly.Tipp:Your design will look even more interesting if you combine two types of metal leaf together.
More ideas for inspiration and to imitate
Blend colors with a sponge
Make games out of painted stones – ladybugs for Tic Tac Toe
Striped cats
Funny green face
Sailboat in the sea
Painting lucky stones with children – superheroes as a motif idea
Make photo stands out of painted stones to give as gifts
Funny bird with colorful feathers
Stones painted by children
Label stones – sayings and wishes
Signatures of guests at a wedding
