Mandala Rocks

posted in: Crafty's Projects, Garden Projects, Rocks | 8

At one of my weekly Creative Crafting sessions we painted mandala rocks.  I had done several of these myself previously, nothing fancy just some practice rocks which I’ll take and hide on one of our daycations at different beaches.

painting mandala rocks at craftygardener.ca

Gail, our instructor, had collected the rocks for us and had a collection of things for making the dots.  I already had a collection of things and you don’t need any special tools for this project.  You can use the ends of pencils, paint brushes, knitting needles, toothpicks and so much more.  Some of my favourite things are nails with different sizes heads.  Another thing I love to use is an old lazy susan.  You set your rock on it and can turn it all around when adding the dots.  As well as dotting tools you need acrylic paint and a sealer.

tools for mandala painting at craftygardener.ca

This is the brown mandala rock I did at the class.  In a way I wish I had left it like the top right photos, as it doesn’t seem so cluttered.  I’ll just have to make another one.

brown mandala rock at craftygardener.ca

This is a white mandala rock I did at home after the class.  This is a patient project as you have to be sure each layer is dry before moving on to the next.  The dots that have smaller dots inside would not of been able to be made unless the first layer was totally dry.  There are parts that aren’t perfect so this is a learning process each time I make a rock.  This is a fairly large rock, about 15 cm or 6 inches across.   Once the painting was all finished and dry I spayed the rock with a fixative as this one is staying outside.

painting mandala rocks at craftygardener.ca

Painting a mandal rock takes a bit of preparation.  The rock must be washed and dried and then you have to plan out your pattern.  There are many sources on the internet for ideas.

First thing is to choose your background colour.  Black is a popular colour to use as it makes the other colours stand out.  But the choice is yours.  I like to try different colours and if you aren’t happy with the results you can just paint it over and start again.

It is important to always start in the centre of the rock and work out. This way you don’t smudge your work.  I tend to do a couple of rounds at a time, then let them dry before moving on.

After dipping the tool in the paint, I dab it first on a piece of wax paper to take off any excess paint.  Too much paint will cause a fattened circle.  Too little paint will cause a dot with spaces.  Practice, practice, practice.

mandala rocks found by the grandkids at craftygardener.ca

One year on our visit to BC the grandkids found painted mandala rocks.  There is a group of people out there (and also world wide) that paint rocks and leave them for others to find.  You can choose to keep the rock or hide it again for someone else to find.

decorated rocks at craftygardener.ca

The kids chose to keep these rocks but we did collect some rocks for them to paint and they hid them on the next outing.

painting mandala rocks at craftygardener.ca

This is one of my favourites.  I chose to use a dark green for the background, with white and gold for the dots.  Simple and effective. Your patterns can be as simple or as complicated as you wish.

I’ve been collecting flat rocks from various places as this is the perfect project for the winter months or for when it is just too hot to be outside in the summer.

Be sure to have a look at my rock projects and see all the other types of rocks I’ve painted.

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8 Responses

  1. Tammy S Asad

    Very pretty. Rock painting was always a hit when I did it out at the community garden where I used to volunteer. Something so simple, yet so fun. I still love doing it along with crocheting covers for rocks, too. I plan to drop some of both in the future.

  2. Granny J

    Your painted rocks are so pretty. I especially like the one that has the brown base. You’ve inspired me to try painting some. I go for walks in our retirement community and think it would be fun to tuck them into the flower gardens I pass. Thanks for sharing.

  3. Country Gal

    Oh these are lovely , what a fun craft . I love painting things . I am slowly working on my pond garden sign with paints and stencils . Hope you are recovering well from your knee surgery and are able to get out a bit to enjoy the summer days . Thanks for sharing , Have a good week !

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