Liquid watercolor is an amazing crafting supply to have on hand for kids. It is easy to work with and extremely versatile. The problem is, it is also rather expensive. I, for the life of me, could not figure out why liquid watercolor is so expensive, yet regular watercolor paint can be purchased in a pallet at the Dollar Tree. So I decided to attempt to make my own, and they turned out pleasingly well. My DIY liquid watercolor was so inexpensive and easy to make, and it is perfect for all my daughter’s crafts.
DIY Liquid Watercolor
I know for my daughter and I, we love to do different crafts in the summer time. We usually decide on something after browsing Pinterest for a while and then get to it. Lately, I keep finding crafts that call for liquid watercolor paint, but dang that stuff is expensive! I keep seeing it for $10 and up for small amounts on Amazon, and I am too frugal to pay those prices for paint.
After the initial sticker shock wore off, I realized that I could probably make my own DIY liquid watercolor paint. After picking up some supplies from my trusty Dollar Tree, I was off to the races with this one.
What You Need
The ingredients list is super simple, and super inexpensive as well. All you need are three things!
- Watercolor paint
- White vinegar
- Containers
Seriously, that is it! I am always buying those one dollar watercolor paint pallets for my daughter, so we happened to have a few laying around. White vinegar is something I usually keep in stock as well and a few good disposable cups from the cabinet did the trick for containers. If you have these at home already, then this DIY is basically free!
What To Do
This really could not be any easier. All that you need to do for this DIY liquid watercolor recipe is first, de-pot your watercolor paints.
Once you have your paints de-potted, place one color into the bottom of your container.
Add in about a quarter cup of white vinegar and let it dissolve. You will probably want to stir it up a little to make sure it is evenly dissolving. I let mine sit for about an hour but as long as all the paint is dissolved and mixed in with the vinegar, you will be good to go!
Seriously, it was that easy! This paint has worked great in the craft projects my daughter and I have been doing this summer. So run to your local Dollar Tree, grab some supplies, and start crafting!

DIY Liquid Watercolors
DIY Liquid Watercolors
Ingredients
- Hard Watercolor paint
- Vinegar
- Water
Instructions
Dissolve your hard paint in a small amount of vinegar
Love what you can do with these! SO FUN
This is so fun. I am going to have to make this for my boys. They will have a BLAST with this.
My daughter would have a blast with this, but I might have a panic attack with the mess. I tend to stay away from arts and crafts that might leave permanent reminders that we are amateurs. However, the ingredients does not appear to be those that are going to leave reminders. Thanks for the craft idea.
I haven’t tried fabric yet but that’s an awesome idea
Ok these are genius! I need to plan a day (outside ha!) for my little guy to play with these. He would love them!
I needed a project for this weekend with my niece and nephew so this might be perfect. Will try to keep it in a safe place because they might spill a little.
My kids would love this. Definitely will have to try this before school starts again!
We love to do lots of arts and crafts around here. I’d love to add this fun little art twist to our homeschool art lessons.
What a really cool idea! I never knew something like this was possible but this would be so fun for the kids to play around with! My niece and nephew would love it
This would be fun and a blast for kids to do! Love this idea and it looks simple and easy enough to do too!
What kinds of projects do you do with the liquid watercolors? Big splashy murals? Sidewalk painting?
I actually have a post coming up with one we,did with water guns. You can also fill baloons with it and pop them over paper.
Wow! This is awesome! I love that it’s inexpensive and it’s easy to make. I’ve never made liquid watercolor before. That’s so much fun.
I’m so curious to try this out for myself. It looks like a fun way to be crafty without going overboard. I’ve always loved the way watercolor paintings come out.
This is a totally neat idea! I never thought. Definitely stealing this for later.
This looks like so much fun! I think my nieces would love doing this. I’ll have to try it when we go to our annual labor day pool party.
Oh this is awesome! Crafts are always so much fun and sometimes you have to get a little messy.
I can think of a few kiddos that would enjoy this in my household!
Oh, how fun! I would totally try this for my son upcoming birthday party! 🙂 Super neat and cool!
Ah, I love how easy this DIY is! What a great way to re-imagine watercolors, my little nephew would LOVE this.
I love it! My daughter, Madison, and I usually do DIY projects together and this sounds like a lot of fun! I think she’ll have a blast making this with me and using the paint as well.
I totally love and enjoy doing lots of DIY’s and I can totally see doing arts and crafts this way. Thank you for this awesome and inexpensive way to get artistic.
This is so cool. I am going to save this for my early childhood teachers. It is an awesome activity for them to do in class with the kids.
This is such a neat idea for watercolors! I really need to make some of these for my kids.