How To Marble With Epoxy Resin

Here's an easy marble resin tutorial and DIY resin project. We have collaborated with ArtResin for this DIY tutorial and today we are making a gorgeous backdrop out of resin to make it look like white marble effect.

You would never know that this background is poured resin! It looks so real and this backdrop is perfect for food blog pictures. You can make this backdrop as small or large as you need.

We have a secret to share with you. If you have been watching recipe videos on our YouTube channel, you will see that we use a marble background for filming the videos. Well, guess what? It's not real marble, it's a marble resin background that we made out of a large piece of sheetrock. Pretty clever! And we are going to show you how to make your very own backdrop for your food blog or food videos.

One great thing about working with resin is that once it is cured, it's really easy to keep clean. We love that! Before you start, you might want to take a look at different kinds of marble ideas on our Pinterest Board for inspiration.

DIY FAUX MARBLE EPOXY RESIN

Before You Start

If you are using a different resin other than ArtResin, you may get different marble effect results so just be aware of that.

Make sure you read the manufacturers directions before starting any project. This is very important because not all resins are the same. Epoxy resin brands have different mixing ratios, cure times and safety precautions.

Gather up your supplies and have everything ready before starting this marble effect in resin tutorial. You can find the supplies and materials that we used in this faux marble tutorial in our Amazon store here.

 

Use resin in a clean, lint-free and pet hair-free room. If you are worried that dust or something might land on your piece while it is curing, then you might want to cover it with a box after your pour. Just make sure nothing is touching the actual surface if you are covering it while it cures.

The piece made in this tutorial was set in a clean room with the door shut. 

 

Step 1: Cover your surface to protect it from resin drips.

A roll of craft paper is the cheapest and easiest way to cover and protect your surface.

 

Step 2: Find a surface that you are going to use for your surface to marble.

Some ideas for finding a piece to faux marble include leftover sheetrock from a construction site (go and ask if they have any pieces leftover), wood, or artist panels. For this video tutorial, we are using a piece of wood from an old table that we grabbed at our local thrift store. It worked perfectly for this marble effect!

You could also find a silicone mold to make a surface out of pure, poured resin. Just make sure your silicone mold is made for resin work.

Check price of silicone table molds for resin on Amazon here

 

Step 3: Use a box or something level to raise up the piece you are going to be using.

Just make sure that it is completely level or you will have resin running off to one side.

Step 4: Give the piece two coats of white acrylic paint.

Let it dry completely before going to the next step.

 

Step 5: Prepare and measure how much resin you will need.

Decide if you want your marble resin to drip over the sides, or you can tape all around the edges for a pour that will pool. For this DIY we are measuring an amount of resin that will cover the whole piece but not drip too much. ArtResin has a calculator on their website that's really helpful.

 

Step 6: Pour some of your mixed resin into 3 small silicone cups.

These are going to be used for the veins of the marble background. We are using ResinTint Metallic Silver, Jacquard Gold, and White Craft Paint. Mix all of these colors so that they are ready and then set aside.

 

 

Step 7: Add white ResinTint to the rest of the resin.

We love this color because it's an off white so it's perfect for marbling.

*Do not add more than 6-8% of resin pigment to resin or it will not cure properly

 

Step 8: Pour the resin onto your surface. Be sure not go to the edges yet.

Once the resin finds a path of least resistance, it will pour over the sides and we don't want that quite yet.

 

Step 9: With a balled-up piece of wax paper, dap the resin and move it over to the sides.

As you do this you will see the resin start to self-level over your piece. And this will break the surface tension. Be sure to watch the video to see how I did this at the bottom of this post.

 

Step 10: Pop the bubbles with your heat gun.

Check price of the heat gun we use on Amazon here

Using a heat gun is the best way to get bubbles our of resin. Especially if you use one that has different temperature settings. Many people use a torch, but there is so much more room for error in heating yup the epoxy too much.

 

Step 11: Pour in the marble veins.

To get the marble effect, you will want to start with the metallic silver and pour very thin lines up and down the surface. Move these lines around with your heat gun until they are dispersed to soften the lines to further enhance this marble effect. The metallic color will start to bleed into the white making it more realistic.

 

Step 12: Pour white veins here and there.

You will see the white veins stand out nicely against the white ResinTint. By this time it should start looking really great already!

 

Step 13: Pour more very thin lines of metallic silver.

Go over the whole piece with your heat gun again moving things around slightly. Use a popsicle stick to move lines around.

 

Step 14: Apply very thin veins of gold sparingly.

The metallic gold is really going to bring this piece to the next level.

 

Step 15: Clean off the drips.

By now you will start to have resin dripping over the edges (if you decided not to use tape) and now all you have to do is to take a long popsicle stick and run it along the sides and on the bottom.

You will want to do this every 20 minutes or so until the resin stops dripping. It will get thicker and thicker until it completely sets.

 

After 24 hours it will be very hard and then fully cured after 72 hours.

 

SUPPLY LIST

Visit our Amazon store to purchase any or all of the supplies we used for this DIY.

 

Here are the beauty shots of our piece! Isn't this absolutely gorgeous? You would never know that this used to be a broken old table. It looks so good!

 

 

Should You Wear A Respirator Mask When Working With Resin?

You may also want to read more about whether or not you should wear a respirator mask when working with resin. Check out our article, The Proper Respirator Mask For Working With Resin, where we talk about why you should consider wearing a respirator, what the risks are if you do not wear a respirator, how comfortable one is, and how much you should pay for one.

Read about wearing a respirator mask when working with resin here

 

 

Be sure to watch (and like and subscribe) to our YouTube below where we talk about resin safety and then show the difference between mica, alcohol ink and acrylic paint as resin colorants:

 

 

If you are looking to start a food blog, recipe website or maybe you are already into that and want to expand, grow and learn the secrets on how to make money off of your food blog and recipe articles, I would highly suggest trying Food Blogger Pro (below).

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We hope you found this tutorial helpful and would love to see how you use it for your food blogs. Here is the video of how we made this piece. Good luck with your project!

VIDEO TUTORIAL HOW TO MAKE A FAUX MARBLE WITH RESIN

 

MORE RESIN RESOURCES

How to get resin off of hand and skin

ArtResin Review

How to get bubbles out of resin

Best gold for resin

Resin safety precautions

 

Please share with others by saving a Pin to your board :)

 

Happy creating! 

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