Adirondack Alcohol Inks

When I found this image in Pinterest, I had to try it out. I a little discourage when I found out that a small, three bottle package of Alcohol Inks are $9.99! Ugg. I kept it in the back of my mind and continued as normal until I found this pin on how to make your own alcohol inks. Amazing! Perfect! Exactly what I wanted to do at a tiny fraction of the cost! I went out the next day and bought Rit Dyes and Rubbing Alcohol galore at Wal Mart. I'm fairly certain the clerk thought I was nuts to be buying three economy sized bottles of Rubbing Alcohol, but she was nice enough not to say anything. I rushed to work the next day, completely excited to try out all I'd learned.

Total disappointment.

I could not get the dye to completely dissolve into the alcohol, leaving the tiles gritty, transparent, and downright ugly.

Sigh.

I gave in last night. I went to Michael's and bought the good stuff (thank goodness for that teacher discount!). I am so glad I did! Here's my tinkering this morning. . .

 The needed supplies: Alcohol Inks in various color and blending solution. I was going to use the cotton swabs, but didn't actually use them. They could be used instead of a paint brush to spread the blending solution though.

 First, spread the blending solution on the tile. This will disperse the ink and lighten it so the color is visible instead of being so condensed that it looks almost black regardless of the color.

 The inks come with a pointed tip so it's easy to drip just one drop at a time.

 Loving it! I'm thinking of putting a board of these up over the windows in my classroom. It would be spectacular (and the kids wouldn't be able to reach them!).

They do need to be sealed. I read to make sure that it is a water based sealer, such as Mod Podge because anything solvent based will cause the inks to rub off.