The Making of Alcohol Ink Tiles

I mentioned making alcohol ink tiles in my blog post Repurpose ~ Reuse ~ Revive! and thought you might be interested in how to make them. I have made them with adults and children as young as 1st grade and they all turn out great. If for some reason the artist is not happy with their design, they simply wipe it with alcohol and start again!

What you need is:

• Ceramic tiles or dominoes- I get tiles from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore
• Alcohol ink - found online or at Michael's (There is always a coupon available for Michales-  they are a little pricey but a little goes a long way.)
• Rubbing alcohol
• Alcohol applicators - cups with cotton ball and/or Q-tip
• Scrap paper to cover the work surface
• Polyurethane spray

Optional

• Straw
• Felt for blotting (Michael's sells it precut, but it is more cost effective to make your own if you have felt. I also glued loop Velcro to dominoes and small container lids. The felt attaches to this and makes a good blotter.)
• Disposable gloves to keep ink off hands
• Spray bottle filled with alcohol
• Sticky felt pads feet for the backs of the tiles (especially for coasters)

Where the Wind Blows Tile

Step 1: Cleaning - Clean a tile with alcohol using the cotton ball. I like to leave the tile wet so the colors blend, but you can dry it. Choose your colors!

Step 2 - Inking -Dot the tile with ink.

At this point you can blot it with the felt as I did here, let it sit so it melds naturally, or blow the ink around on the tile either with or without a straw.
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​ Step 3: Adjustments - I added more yellow and purple ink. . .

. . . then blew the ink around a bit.

Step 4: Finishing - Spray with polyurethane ( this may make the colors blend more) and place felt dots on the back.

Drop-by-Drop Tile

Step 1: Inking tile - Drop ink on a clean, wet (with alcohol) tile.

Step 2: The Wait - Allow the tile to sit and watch the colors blend. 

I had trouble waiting and tilted the tile to make the ink run a bit more.  When the tile is dry, coat with Polyurethane and put felt feet on the back.

Other Technique Results

Blotted and sprayed with acohol

Straw-blown tile

Color drop on wet tile with some metallic ink

Ink dropped on a dry tile. Dark color is caused by ink buildup.