Raise Your Garden

Musings on the Seedier Side

in Handmade

Rock art with acrylic and spray paint

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Isn’t it funny how you can spend $25 and up on a toy for a child that gets played with a few times then tossed?

Even if they requested that specific toy!

My kids love playing with non-toy items such as twigs, leaves, sticks and rocks found outside.

More so than any pricey plastic toy.

They spend hours whacking each other with twigs in the backyard or rock painting in the driveway at little cost to myself.

Best of all….it’s “real” fun. Imaginative play.

Recently, my mom has been experimenting with painting rocks and the results have been impressive.

It’s incredible how painted rocks can come close to resembling just about any image you can dream up.

So far, we’ve tried pumpkins, turtles and a duck pond, all of which came up to scratch.

And we have lots of unique ideas for you today!

Why paint rocks?

Painting rocks is fun for the kids. But shhhhhh, it’s equally fun for adults.

Just ask my mom! She’s a rock painting addict now. Besides, it’s reasonably inexpensive to do. Rocks are free after all.

Once painted, you’d almost never believe they were ever rocks in the first place.

They can be used for play, decoration or both.

Painted rocks are fun to mix with other natural items such as “real” pumpkins or gourds for an eye catching display.

Painted rocks make great seasonal decor that can be displayed indoors or out.

Showcase them on your coffee table or outdoors on your front porch.

And it’s not a lifetime commitment. If you don’t like the outcome, repaint the rock. Give it another go or find another rock more suitable.

The duck pond with the mom and dad duck and their ducklings? Okay, my mom made that one.

The girls helped with the pumpkins and the turtles. Sure, they’re not perfect, but they are super cute.

What you need

  • Smooth rocks in all sorts of unique sizes and shapes. Always be on the hunt for rocks that can take on the shape of your next project!
  • Paint – both acrylic and spray paint.
  • Some type of sealer varnish, an indoor/exterior spray enamel with a gloss finish. Rust-Oleum works well.
  • Instant glue.
  • Black Sharpie marker.
  • Your imagination!

Decide what you want to create/replicate

Rock art can mimic just about anything. In this post, you’re obviously seeing ducks, their pond, turtles and pumpkins.

But come Spring,  I’m going to be tempted to make a rock vegetable garden.

Can you imagine the cucumbers, tomatoes and peas? How cute the rocks will look all painted up in a harvest basket.

So use some of my ideas or dream up your own.

I’m also thinking a hamburger with cute little rock pickles, tomato and onion would be sweet to make.

Not to mention the little rock bun and burger itself.

What would you make?

Simple step-by-step instructions

1.) Have all your supplies ready to go. This includes your rocks and smooth stones.

Hopefully, you have “the vision” of what they will look like once painted.

Example. Can you find a curvy stone that resembles a pumpkin stem when painted green?

A long, flat, smooth rock that will easily take on the appearance of a pond when painted the right shade of blue?

How about a rock with just the right indentations to resemble a duck head when glued on another rock?

These are the types of questions to ask yourself when seeking the right rocks.

2.) Use either spray paint or acrylic paint on your rocks.

Adults might prefer several coats of spray paint. Kids might enjoy hand painting using brushes with acrylics.

It may take a few coats to truly coat the rock. Perhaps three coats?

Let rocks dry in between coats. Make sure you paint your rocks on newspaper, especially when kids are involved and preferably outside for ventilation.

3.) When rocks are 100% dry and look just the way you want, you can start the gluing process.

This may include gluing duck heads on their body or stems onto the pumpkin. Make sure they stick!

4.) Coat well with a sealant.

Not only will this give your rock art a slightly shiny appearance, but more importantly, it will prevent the paint from washing off.

This is particularly true if you plan on leaving your rock art outside where it is exposed to the elements. Weather is rough so treat your rock art right!

5.) If your rock art is an animal such as a turtle or duck, you’ll need a black Sharpie marker to add the eyes.

That’s it! How easy and fun.

One last super helpful tip….

When you are choosing rocks to be the head of the duck, or stem of a vegetable, you need to carefully consider adhesion.

If you have too much of a gap, even with super glue, your pieces are likely to fall off in time.

A little gap is fine, but if the two pieces are wobbling even before you’ve used glue, then it’s probably not a good fit. Glue can only fix so much!

Keep looking for rocks until you find ones with the right shape that seem like they fit together. As in…puzzle style to your bigger rock.

You don’ t want to keep gluing turtle feet back on! Seek a natural seal between the rocks and you should be fine.

Kids love painted rocks!

I still can’t believe the money spent on toys. Toys that hardly get used.

My mom just spray-painted smooth rocks in some pastel colors like lilac, pink, yellow and green. She also did some gold ones.

My two girls alongside their cousin loved manipulating them while playing imaginatively together.

She even took a piece of lace to lay on the top of a few of them to create quite an effect on top of the rock. Of course, all three girls fought over the gold rocks! Ha.

And it is funny watching kids play with the ducks in the duck pond.

They just love moving those ducks around in a dirt-cheap Playmobil kind of way and it’s interesting to watch them.

The eight ducklings get maneuvered around their sparkling blue pond as it rests on the coffee table. Lots of singing is involved!

Just a little thought….

From time to time, we’re all looking for a handmade gift, something small and special to accompany a gift card or box of chocolates.

How about a painted rock paperweight? For the teacher in the shape of an apple? Or a pumpkin? How cute is that.

And this Fall, I’ve really been enjoying my “rock” pumpkins adorning my “real” pumpkins on my small front porch.

Mix together, they look great and are all natural materials.

 What would you like to create out of rocks?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  11. donna porter says

    What a great idea when I have the nieces and nephews for a few days. They would really enjoy this activity!

    Reply

  15. Jennifer Hedden says

    This is such a fun idea! Love that you can paint yourself or have the kids paint them. My favorites are the ducks and turtles! Thank you for sharing!

    Reply

  30. Sandra McFadden says

    So cute I have friends who pain on rocks and paint rocks and assemble them to look like critters.

    Reply

  36. sharon shafran says

    i love painted rocks did this with my son years ago and he is now 52 lol
    as a five year old his friends bought them for a penny so funny

    Reply

  48. Laura Harrison says

    I spent a lot of time hand painting art on about a dozen rocks to hide up and down main street in a nearby town. ONE lady that owns a boutique downtown followed me the whole time and picked every single one of them up behind me. I had two left and went up to her and said, “Here.” handing her the rocks, “I won’t even bother to hide them.”

    Reply

  49. Tara Enright says

    This looks so peaceful and fun, but every time I would do something like this it never turns out right like what yours look like for example. Great to do with little kids too as a class or birthday party or a gift for there mother.

    Reply

  61. Anita McMurtrey says

    What a nifty idea. I’m afraid I’m not very creative but have thought about rock painting. The ducks in the pond are the cutest little things ☺

    Reply

  63. Maryann+D. says

    My daughter is the creative artist. She enjoys painting rocks. These are all great ideas and she would like to make peace signs on them.

    Reply

  69. clynsg says

    We have not done this as a ‘regular’ activity, but it seems that any time some painting has to be done, a few rocks become decorative pieces, oddly enough in the same color as the paint job.

    Reply

  79. Natalie J Vandenberghe says

    I’m not very creative, but I sure enjoy watching my kids and grandkids display theiry artistic ability. I especially enjoy hiding and looking for painted rocks with the grands.

    Reply

  81. Sharon Braswell says

    I’d love to copy your yellow ducks because they are very pretty and so unique in their shapes. You chose the perfect color for them as well!

    Reply

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