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DIY Marbled Glassware

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When graphic designer and artist Joanna Bean Martin shared with us her technique for marbling the bottoms of glassware with nail polish, we couldn’t wait to try it ourselves. Who knew it would be such an easy way to add color and pattern to your next tablescape or party? Remember, the brighter and bolder colors you use, the more the glasses will radiate and glow. Have fun!

You’ll need:

  • flat bottomed glassware
  • variety of colorful nail polish
  • clear nail polish
  • a disposable plastic container
  • nail polish remover
  • painters tape
  • toothpicks

Mask off the bottom of the glass with painters tape.

Fill a disposable, plastic container with water. Open all the nail polish bottles and start dripping polish into the water, one color at a time.

Layer the colors one on top of the other. Take a toothpick and pull out the polish to create a swirly pattern, starting from the center. Work quickly as the polish will start to harden and clump up over time.

Submerge the bottom of the glass into the polish. Allow the polish to collect around the sides of the glass and pull out carefully. Little air bubbles may form but that is to be expected! Before marbling the next glass, take a clean toothpick and sweep up any excess polish from the water.

Allow to dry completely before applying a layer of clear polish.

Once everything has dried, remove the painters tape and touch up with nail polish remover and a cotton swab.

Your glowing glasses are finished! *Glassware should be hand washed only.

Bottoms up!

(tutorial adapted from Joanna Bean Martin; all images by HonestlyWTF)

253 Comments

  5. Nomadic D    April 25, 2012

    Oh my god, are you KIDDING ME?!?! This is actually possible?! Why have we not been painting our glassware with nail polish for years? This has got to be one of the most ingenious DIYs I’ve seen ever. I know I say that to you guys from time to time, but then you keep going and topping yourselves. Not that you can top this one, seriously, this just blew my mind. Wonder if there’s something else we could use instead of clear nail polish to seal it so it’d even be dishwasher friendly…

    http://nomadic-d.blogspot.com/

  7. Judith    April 25, 2012

    I LOVE this idea!! It’s so simple, but looks so great. I’m definetely trying this.

    xoxo

  14. Miss Mary    April 25, 2012

    I love the DIY, but I REALLY love the glassware – where did you find it?

  17. Iva    April 25, 2012

    Cool! I knew about this “magic”:) with nail polish, but on glass? No.
    Good idea.

  27. Anita    April 25, 2012

    LOVE LOVE LOVE this tut. I cannot wait to try it and marbelize everything in sight. Y’all are amazing!!!!

  28. Tamber    April 25, 2012

    These are awesome! I tried it with shaving creme and dye on fabric and it definitely did NOT turn out this lovely…..

  29. LC Taylor    April 25, 2012

    Very cool. And so easy! I’m envisioning doing this with wine glasses, on the bases up to the stem.

  32. charity    April 25, 2012

    What a brilliant way to use up my last season nail polish! It will be dark and moody though.

  33. Amy    April 25, 2012

    Psychedelic! I have so many plain shot glasses laying around. I think they’re asking for a makeover like this one.

    xoxo,
    mon amy

  34. Brittany    April 25, 2012

    Love this. I can’t wait to try this at home on my glasses!

    -Brittany
    Belle epoque @ fashionista-brit.blogspot.com

  38. LC    April 25, 2012

    You can use same technique on your finger nails very cool!

  48. RW    April 25, 2012

    Looks great! Wouldn’t you be able to seal it with some modge podge to make it more durable, possibly even machine-washable?

  54. Chessa!    April 25, 2012

    I LOVE this idea. so clever and a great way to add drama and a pop of color to an other simple summer table. How fantastic would an all white table be with these fun, happy, modern, chic glasses?! thanks for sharing.

  55. JCL88    April 25, 2012

    This is a great idea!! but nail polish chips off of glassware… wouldn’t it work much better with glass paint?

  57. lily    April 25, 2012

    believe it or not,there is a similiar application but its done on fingernails!its called water nail art and it takes some practice,but i ve managed to master it!you ll find it on youtube.com if you want the nail tutorial,,,,,,,this is an awesome idea for glassware!

  61. Jenny    April 26, 2012

    I once paint my glass with my unused nail polish and the result is really cool. :)

  67. Kathy    April 26, 2012

    OMG this is soooo cool :D I am sooo trying it sometime during the summer!! Those glasses would be perfect to brighten up glasses for a summer BBQ or party :) xx

  77. june    April 26, 2012

    my friends and I did our nails with same technique!! you can do rad experimental nail arts… :)

  82. Jessica Lee    April 27, 2012

    Oh, my…. This is definitely one of the coolest, best DIY ideas I’ve seen! It’s now on my to-do list! :)

  85. Kate @ The Loud and Clear    April 27, 2012

    This is such a great idea. I used to do something similar with easter eggs and oil paint but I love that you can use these all the time! Especially if you drink as many shots as I do…

  87. Kimberly    April 28, 2012

    Love it. Can you use the nail polish remover and take it off and redo it if you decide to change it up?

  88. Annabella Merlin    April 30, 2012

    Nail polish to make decorative glasswares? That’s really, really creative! Two thumbs up!

    Annabella Merlin
    Creative Photo Albums

  90. ellen    May 3, 2012

    do they go through the dishwasher unharmed? just wondering…

  91. Susan    May 3, 2012

    Tried to do this… and it did NOT work :(

    The nail polish sank to the bottom and clumped immediately. We could only get one color to stay at the top, and as soon as we put another color in with it, they separated from each other.

  92. Liz Knight    May 3, 2012

    I just tried it today with a vase and a jar. It worked! Looks good! Thanks for the post!

  94. pionikko    May 4, 2012

    this is a fantastic tutorial ! thanks for sharing this, I just discovered your blog and I think it is very pretty.

  95. Lejla    May 5, 2012

    Amazing! I will totally try it out. I didn’t like the marbled nails but this looks great :)

  96. meg    May 7, 2012

    Beautiful idea with all those crazy leftover colors that are filling up our bathroom drawers!

  97. Keira    May 8, 2012

    Just found your awesome blog! Love this idea! I’ll have to try it out.

  98. Melanie    May 9, 2012

    Do you know if this would work on acrylic glass?

  100. dolphin    May 10, 2012

    Finally a purpose for those colors you buy for one use. I have about 30 colors choices!!!

  105. desiree    May 15, 2012

    I am thinking that this idea would be perfect for wine glasses. This would be a cute gift for a friends birthday! Can not wait to do this

  107. kris    May 27, 2012

    this is a cool idea. Ive seen this technique done on finger nails too. Very cool!

  110. CACANITO    June 14, 2012

    in Turkey we called this technique -> Ebru Sanati it´s an old ottoman crafts if you want you can google it.

    instead of glas you can use paper or other things ;)

  113. Jenn    June 21, 2012

    Just tried this, and looks pretty cool…My only question.complaint is the air bubbles!
    I know in the tutorial it said that they’re to be expected, but when I got them, they popped and would ruin the whole marble design to the point where I feel like I want to redo the whole project. Any help, maybe?

  115. Iveth    July 6, 2012

    This DIY is the same for nails so if you like it, get it on your fingers!

  117. Anna    July 11, 2012

    Oh my goshhhh! I’ve known of water marble nails for a long time, but the idea of using it on glasses is unique!!! Thank you so much of this tutorial!!!!

  120. Tristian    July 12, 2012

    Just made these with the same glasses! Gorgeous and simple but beware the air bubbles, a bit tricky but worth the patience:)

  121. maggie    July 13, 2012

    does it ever come off? like in the dishwasher or if u scratch at it??

  123. Tracey MacKenzie    July 22, 2012

    I can’t seem to get it to work. The first type of nail polish I used just sank to the bottom no matter the water temp and the second batch of nail polish I used dried so fast on the water that I didn’t even have time to swirl it become it wrapped itself around the toothpick. Can you advise?
    Thanks,

  125. blumpybuttt    July 29, 2012

    dumb. hey, newsflash. if a kindergartener can do it, it probably isn’t worth publishing on the web. just cause it’s new to yyou, oh my gosh, go get a camera, now i’m popular. you dam martha stewart artsy fartsy wannabees. ok ok your speical. happy now.

  126. Michelle    August 6, 2012

    Its amazing, i love it :)

    - love Michelle from Denmark

  127. Ericka    August 18, 2012

    1st off, “blumpybuttt” is an idiot & should leave Pinterest all together. Your username says it all!
    We started this project yesterday. It’s not as easy as u think. Trial & error on which polishes work. I’ll post a pic of our finished work once it’s done.

    blumpybuttt, don’t you dare comment!

  130. Tabitha    September 13, 2012

    I tried these and it is not as easy as it makes it out to sound. For me it was easier to drop the nail polish on the bottom and swirl with a toothpick that way.

  132. Megan    September 22, 2012

    I think this is awesome and a great idea. I thank you for sharing it as we will be using it for shot glasses as favors for our wedding. :) I will be sure to say made by us idea by Honestly WTF….

  133. Audrey    September 24, 2012

    I did this.. It made a little mess but that was easy to clean up!
    It looks really cool!
    I only used three colors: Purple, Blue, and Green, but it amazing :D

  134. Daniela    October 1, 2012

    Question do i use only glass cups? or can i use clear plastic?

  135. Bonnie    October 13, 2012

    You use the word “glassware”, but are you actually using “glass” or is the “glassware” actually “acrylic” glassware? I was wondering if it makes a difference.3

  136. heidi    October 14, 2012

    These look fabulous! And it looks so simple to do. I must go through the nail polish and decide which colors would look best.

  138. MrsB2012    October 18, 2012

    This is awesome! You can also use a similiar technique for your nails too :)

  140. Royalparadigm    November 13, 2012

    I’ve seen this done on the bodies of electric guitars and basses. Pretty sweet.

  142. Flash    November 19, 2012

    Wow…I had to scroll down, down, down and then DOWN even more to comment. So many fans seem to love this idea. Count me among them :)

  143. Alverdine    November 19, 2012

    This is such a clever idea, and I’m highly jealous that I wasn’t the one to think of it!

    Since I can’t use nail polish on my nails any more for weird medical reasons, a question for those who do their nails with this technique: how do you not end up with nail polish all over your fingers? Do you mask off the mail area somehow? (I know, I could Google it, but since you’re all here already…)

  144. Ashley Kramer    November 19, 2012

    Hey, I love the idea, but are these just for decorative use only? Have you tried washing them in the dishwasher/is it safe? I’d love to try it out, but I’d want to make sure I could still use the glasses afterwards.

  147. Jennifer    November 27, 2012

    I’ve tried finding an answer in the comments with no success… can anyone tell me how easily the paint scratches off? I’m sure it’s not dishwasher safe but at how easy is it to hand wash? I just don’t want to have to spend all that time and effort only to have it come off after the first use, ya know…

  148. Erica    November 27, 2012

    @Jennifer, the clear nail polish helps seal the colored polish. After several washes, I’m sure the paint will eventually scratch off. However, this has yet to happen to my glasses. Hope this helps! Good luck.

  152. MARIII    December 9, 2012

    I liked it so much but it didn’t worked.. :S think i did something wrong.. when i started to pull out the polish with the toothpick it was already dried.. it’s too beautiful to give up on it, i’ll try it again,, :D

  154. mandana    December 11, 2012

    and we can try s.th else too.. we can don’t put the cover, then some parts of of our glass in the top would be color full too. :-D try it. it would be pretty!

  157. Elisa    December 19, 2012

    This is very nice, but how do you seal the paint? this can get out with use or a single scratch…

  159. Neshtoto    January 8, 2013

    Interesting idea, I’m thinking to tell this to my gf… she will most certainly try to do it :)

  160. travis    January 11, 2013

    I wonder if it would work anybetter with etching the bottom of the glass first…

  162. Nazrien J Mehta    January 22, 2013

    Hi,
    Thank you for this amazing idea!
    After reading this, I immediately decorated 4 bottles.
    Now I know what to do with my empty pasta and sauce bottles
    I’ve added your link to my pininterest page

    Have an awesome and creative day!

  164. Shikha    February 28, 2013

    WOw…. this stuff is seriously amazing.. gonna do it today.have sooooooo many nail paints that i dont use anymore and my dad has sooooooo many glasses…

  166. Liset    March 2, 2013

    I tried it, and its harder than it looks! But now i have amazing glasses!! 1 tip: you need put the glas at an angle into the water -not flat-, otherwise you get a bubble underneath your polish and then you have to start over….

  168. Penny    March 27, 2013

    oh common girls you can fix your nails like that!;)I tried many times is nice for the summer!

  169. shell    April 7, 2013

    it worked really well but i decided to do almost the whole shot glass instead of just the bottom. and it looked awesome.

  176. houseurmonkey    May 4, 2013

    what you’re finished, maybe if you put the glasses in the oven at about 350 for 15 min. then u can probably wash them in the dishwasher

  177. HRamona    May 6, 2013

    Lovely for presents too!! Just buy a set of shot glasses and decorate them :D

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