Summer gatherings seem like the perfect occasion for watercolor table details. They are light and airy, and can be painted to match any color scheme. Plus, this DIY is incredibly easy, and impossible to mess up! The best part is that you will feel very accomplished when you’re done.
Materials Needed:
1. Watercolor paper – you can purchase a large sheet and cut it by hand, or purchase a pre-cut package like I’m using here. (These are 5″ x 7″)
2. Rubber cement + an old, round, throw-away brush
3. Watercolors – you can find inexpensive tubes of paint at your local craft store, such as this set from Hobby Lobby.
4. Wide paint brush
Step #1: Draw or trace your numbers on each of your watercolor papers.
Tip: If free-handing all of your numbers isn’t your talent, simply print the numbers in your favorite font and trace them on. Be sure to print them the same size you’d like them to be on your cards. Then simply tape the printed numbers onto your window (while it is still light outside) and then place your watercolor paper on top and lightly trace the number. You can use masking tape to hold your paper in place while tracing, if necessary.
Step #2: With your old throw-away brush, fill in your numbers with a hefty amount of rubber cement. If you would like a more casual look, like mine, go lighter on the rubber cement application. Any areas of your paper that are not covered by rubber cement will absorb paint. Keep in mind that if you want crisp outer lines, you must be sure to get a good, thick coat of rubber cement. Let dry.
Step #3: Now you are ready to paint! In order to get the colors to bleed into each other, you’ll need to do what is called wet on wet painting. Because of this, you’ll need to secure the sides of your paper with a couple of small pieces of masking tape. The only exception is that if you want to ensure that your paint covers the entire paper – as in, you don’t want any white around the edge – you’ll need to tape each edge down to your work table (or a piece of cardboard works just fine.) Otherwise, your paper will curl. It will dry fine, but you could end up with streaks and runs that you didn’t want. Once your painting is dry, you will need to trim off the white edge.
Step #4: With your wide brush, wet your paper with clean water, then apply paint. I used Azo Yellow Deep and Vermilion, since it has some orange in it. When you apply your paint, use long, smooth strokes and don’t let your paint dry while you are mixing the colors on your paper. If you let it dry, you’ll have crisp lines in the areas where the paint dried.
Tip: Don’t be timid! Get in and play. One caution, don’t “scrub” your paper while you are adding colors or it will start to come apart, which isn’t pretty at all.
Step #5: Once your watercolor is dry, simply rub off the rubber cement with your finger and erase any remaining pencil lines. That’s it!
Set your table with pretty linens, your favorite summer dishes and enjoy! I am in heaven with all of my peony blooms this year, although, I don’t think I could ever have enough of them. The perfect flower to compliment a watercolor table number, don’t you think?!
Love these!!!
lovely!
Glad you like them! Thanks for stopping by!
Beautiful! Do you think this would also work on canvas?
Thank you, Rachel! I have never tried watercolors on canvas, but I don’t think they would work because the surface isn’t absorbent like paper. Although, if you stretched your own canvas, and didn’t prime the canvas, the watercolors could work. If you wanted to use gouache paint on canvas, you can get a similar, though more opaque, effect.
These are beautiful! I’ve never painted with watercolors before…how wet does the paper have to be before painting it?
Hi Erica!
With this particular project, I didn’t wet the paper much, just a light brushing with a 1/2″ wide brush over the area that I wanted painted. I added a bit of water after I added the color to get it to mix the way I wanted it to. It’s easy and because there really is no “right” way. Just play around a bit, and each piece will look a bit different, which is what makes them pretty! Enjoy!
Watercolors are so fun
Nikkol
what font did you use for this?
Love this! Just wondering what font you used….it is so beatiful!
I tried this and I can’t get the rubber cement to dry! Did you have any issue with that?
Hi Abbey,
I’ve not had a problem like that. Did you let the rubber cement dry before painting? Maybe just test out your rubber cement and see if it dries on its own first. Could be a bad bottle, perhaps. You can also use masking fluid, which is found in the watercolor area of most art supply stores. You just use an old brush to paint it on and then remove it with a rubber square, which is also found in art supply stores. Good luck!
I did something along these lines in my art class. Instead of using rubber cement, we colored our design in (in this case it would be the number) with a white crayon. You can’t see the crayon and the wax doesn’t allow the paint to bleed into your design. Just a thought in case you were having a tough time with the cement drying, or just didn’t want to do the cement method!
happy painting!
Yep – that works, too! Masking fluid is really the best option, but more people have rubber cement or crayons on hand 😉 Thanks for chiming in!