Here’s a tutorial for how to make a DIY Portable Watercolor Palette, small enough to fit in your handbag or backpack!

Have you ever taken watercolor paints with you on the road? I love having my paints with me just in case inspiration hits and it’s much easier to take a smaller palette over a big palette. You can make your own tiny little travel watercolor paint box using any small empty tin, like an empty Altoid tin or tea tin, and using a glue gun as a “3-D printer.”

My favorite little box I’ve found recently is a vintage tea tin that I decided to turn into a travel palette:

The palette has dried watercolor paints inside that just need a little water to re-use:

You can even include a tiny paintbrush:

These liquid watercolor paints are from Michaels Stores and are very reasonable in price:

You’ll also need a small tin, it doesn’t matter what size because the insert is made to size:

First, trace the bottom of the tin as a template:

Next, draw a grid on the inside to show how many paint spaces you’ll need. I chose 12 spaces for this particular palette. I try to make them as square as possible and that usually determines how many spaces there will be:

Place a piece of parchment paper over the template:

The glue from a glue gun is going to form the tray insert to hold the paints. First use the glue gun to draw a thin layer of glue on the entire surface of the template:

Once the bottom layer is dry use the glue to draw the grid lines and the outside wall of the tray:

You’ll want to wait for each layer to cool before adding the next layer to keep the wall from caving in but it’s a pretty quick process. Just keep drawing your gridlines until you’ve built them up about 1/4″ to 1/2″ in height:

Use scissors to cut off any strings or wonky walls:

When the glue is cool you can spray the tray with a flat white spray paint:

Once the spray paint is dry you can put the tray into the tin. Then it’s time to add your paint! Squeeze enough liquid watercolor into each box to fill it to the top. You can hit the tin lightly on the table surface to help level the paint.

Keep adding paint until ever spot is filled:

Let the paint dry thoroughly. It might take a few days depending on the brand of paint. Once all of the water had evaporated you’ll be left with just the hard paint pigment that can be used just like dry watercolor paints!

Cut a wood paint brush in half, smooth the end with sandpaper, and you’ll have a mini paint brush that fits inside too:

You can use the inside lid of the tin to mix your paints together but I usually just use a discarded bottle cap as a mini mixing palette:

Now you can take your paints to go!

My friend Ashley (we share the same name) recently asked me if she thought I could teach her to be crafty, for a column she’s working on for our local newspaper.  Of course I said yes…I think everyone can be crafty if they just take the time to sit down and make something. I picked a craft that has been around for a while and has very few steps. I’ve even seen them for sale in desert touristy shops…and yes I was tempted to buy one.  Two weeks ago Ashley and I sat down to make these beauties: hand painted rock cactus plants.

First you’ll need some rocks. I could have gone looking for some outside but I got all of our rocks from Michaels because they have these great pre-sorted bundles of smooth river stones and smaller rock fill.  The only other materials we needed was paint and I have a wide variety of green shades that resemble cactus plants:

The first step is to paint the rocks varying shades of green that compliment each other as a group, lights and darks that will contrast:

There are many ways to paint a cactus. I like to practice different patterns on scrap paper before painting the actual rock:

The painting doesn’t have to be perfect! Just find a small brush and start:

When all the rocks are dry you can spray them with a clear coat to keep the paint from chipping off. Set the rocks into a bowl or pot and add small gravel to hold them in place:

A finished cactus garden that never needs to be watered or maintained:

So how did my friend Ashley’s turn out? Amazing. I loved how she took this super tiny pebble and made a teeny, tiny little cactus for the front:

I never had any doubt that she would make an epic craft…she does run a newspaper. It was fun crafting with another person for once…having someone to chat with, because I’m usually talking to the dog or listening to a podcast.  Ashley wrote about the experience in our local newspaper last week…it was interesting to see what tips she picked up.

She took a great behind-the-scene of where I photograph most of my finished projects: on a small table outside our back door. The best light is there…I just have to squat to get it!

It was fun. I can’t wait until our next craft…I just have to figure out what it is first. And here’s a challenge for you: Try and pair up with a self-proclaimed “non-crafty” person sometime soon. See if you can change their mind. I’m convinced that making stuff is good for the soul…that’s why I started this blog in the first place. So keep on making you making peoples!