DIY Travel watercolor Palette ideas

Sharing some ideas for creating travel watercolor palettes, for your journal, Midori notebook, and using Altoid tins, and other easy supplies.
Let me know if you have questions, and you can find me online:
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website: www.ElaTell.com
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[@juliearmymom7807]

I am mostly bedridden and spend a lot of time in hospitals. If y'all know anyone in your circle that is crafty but chronically ill, make them one of these. Creating gives you a bit of your self worth back you lost. Lifts the spirit. Problem is, with blankets pills and the ton of other stuff we sick people seem to take with us, we don't need one more. This would be an amazing gift. My husband got me a sketch book and colored pencils and regular HB and said "add nothing else but your imagination" it was so freeing not to have all that stuff. He wanted me to be able to create at a moment's notice. Give that gift to someone.

[@ElaTell]

Julie Kent that is a great idea! I totally agree, these make great little gifts and when you buy a tube of paint, there's plenty in there to make a few of these little palettes

[@ivanachang9060]

Ela Ilene Tell mmm

[@thefrugalcrafter]

cool! I bought the mini IceCube trays for the same thing! love the ideas!

[@ElaTell]

Thanks! Love your videos, by the way!

[@NgaLe-le6km]

Phim nghu lam ko kiem

[@shelbydecker8447]

thefrugalcrafter Lindsay Weirich I used beer bottle caps supergluded inside a little necklace box. it looks so cute and I sawed down a detail brush and it fits perfectly inside the box.

[@JenniferCharleeArt]

how clever! I love being able to use things that would normally just end up in the trash 😄🎨

[@ElaTell]

I totally agree!

[@elsagrace3893]

Totally cute. I love the mini ice cube trays.

[@nknana3]

I love the "mini ice cube tray" tip! Awesome!! I have that same small plastic box (holding band aids) and was thinking of using it for a small travel palette....after seeing this video, this will be my next project! Thanks for sharing!

[@ElaTell]

Thanks! I'm glad this was helpful! Let me know if you end up making it, and how it turns out.

[@steviecraven6254]

I don't know if you were wondering or anything but the reason the paint shrinks is because the excess water is evaporating making it take up less space

[@PuppetMaster8707]

My Altoids tin I made holds 8 colors and couple brushes and I have a cleaning sponge inside as well

[@ElaTell]

Yep, with the Altoids there are lots of different combinations you can use depending on how big the little wells are. Enjoy!

[@joannepeyton1654]

Very creative ideas from you and your followers. I saved Altoid tins, makeup pallets, small containers with lids, etc. for repurposing and recycling. Can’t wait to make a few. Thank you for sharing. 💜😎🇺🇸

[@tranquillite1351]

should've thought about ice cube trays sooner...thanx a bunch. You really did save my water colors from going to the bin.

[@ElaTell]

Thanks for watching, and I'm so glad the video was helpful! Enjoy the watercolors. FYI, I have a new video I posted a couple days ago where I review/compare all the brands of watercolors I've tired :)

[@debl3063]

I have that same bandaid box that I use for gouache. I also use the mini ice cube trays. The silicone one that's easy to cut with scissors.

[@ayamewilliams2065]

I love this because it recycles packaging ^_^. Thank you for sharing these cool ideas with us

[@ElaTell]

Ayame Williams thanks for watching, so glad it was helpful! I love to recycle and reuse stuff, it's half the fun :)

[@effiecross2008]

I've been watching a TON of these vids of people making little homemade travel watercolor kits. I'm hoping to make a little mixed media kit that is small enough to fit in my purse along with a tiny homemade sketch book. I've got almost everthing figured out, just working on the watercolor part of it. I've not seen anything like that little flat set before. I mean there are expensive peerless watercolors, but I've not seen regular tube watercolors made into something like that. What a great idea! Thanks for sharing!

[@effiecross2008]

Hi Ela, I hope you'll see this comment. About 6 months or so ago I remembered this video and hunted it down so I could make the little palette from the clamshell. I just wanted to let you know all these years later it is STILL the most unique DIY palette I've ever seen, and it works wonderfully! Thank you so much! I wanted something super thin and lightweight so I could keep it in my purse all the time. I used the deeper side of the clamshell to make mine, and it is still super light and flat. Thanks again!

[@designsofluid8308]

Wish I could find those mini ice cube trays here in the UK! Great vid, the blank metal badge things are a great idea for pans! I find that I'm always on the lookout for anything that can double as paint pans :)

[@elsagrace3893]

Beret Nice pop, soda or beer bottle tops.

[@EmmaMorgan09]

Beret Nice there is one on Amazon. Under £3... its silicone and easy to cut to size with scissors x

[@EmmaMorgan09]

There you go AOHANG Ice Cube Mold from Flexible Silicone for 160 Mini Ice www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01HV2XVJQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_t3X8ybF1Q9YC6

[@susanyoung6331]

Great ideas! Thank you so much!

[@TheStaceySquad]

I just found that Travel first aid kit at Target, and I was looking for one to hopefully make a travel palette with! I think it's a cool idea to create your own palettes :) And I even made a "classic color set" (the basic rainbow colors) of a gouache paint palette out of an Altoid tin this week too :) I just need to order somehow those half pans for my bigger travel kit :) Nice video too.

[@ElaTell]

TheStaceySquad thanks!! I think multiple palletes for different purposes is a great idea. You could buy the half pans online or if u have an art store nearby, try that.

[@TheStaceySquad]

Thanks !

[@med3049]

I love your idea for the Altoids tin palette using the mini ice cube tray for paint pans. A couple of additional ideas to add to this; because the tops of the tins are embossed, I used some 1mm thick white polystyrene cut to fit snug inside the lid to use as a mixing tray. Also, I used a second lid taken off a different tin and added the polystyrene inside it. This can be used as a second mixing tray that you can put on the bottom of your tin. To help it fit snug, I covered the outside of the tin with masking tape. The cool thing about this is the palette with 2 brushes, a small pencil, a pencil sharpener and a small sponge will fit inside a pencil box approx. 2-1/2" wide x 8" long x 1" deep. I actually cut the polystyrene oversized and wet sanded the edges until it fit snug inside the lid without buckling. You can also use a small binder clip to hold the second lid to the tin. Not perfect, but do-able.

[@ElaTell]

Me D thanks for all the additional suggestions!! And thanks for stopping by and taking a peek at my channel 🥰

[@thefrugalcrafter]

have you painted with the altoids palette? are the trays big enough to fit your brushes in? TFS:)

[@ElaTell]

I mostly take it with me when I'm out and about, and to work, and I usually use the water brushes at those times, and those fit with no problem. Probably a wider brush wouldn't do as well, though. But most round brushes should be ok.

[@fireferna]

that was brilliant!

[@ElaTell]

Thanks!!

[@TheAliK1971]

Ingenious!!!!

[@ElaTell]

Thanks Ali!

[@mok6388]

You can actually fit 18 standard half pans in a Altoids tin!

[@ElaTell]

Eleanor moon really?! That’s petty awesome!

[@monyscell8352]

love the way you re-used packaging for this - I think that would be perfect especially for air travel, assuming we ever get to do that again.. lol. I'm a beginner so never tried to take watercolor but I read that some TSA agents have been known to confiscate palettes for fear of solvents and such if they don't know the difference. I think in that case, it would be better if the only loss were the paints. Tfs. :)

[@AmysColorfulCreations]

Brilliant!

[@ElaTell]

Thank you! ☺️

[@crystalruby3611]

Watercolour Soho I hope to get/ make some for Christmas

[@crystalruby3611]

Woohoo*

[@yreana]

How did you cut the ice cube trays please? I love this idea

[@juliearmymom7807]

Where can I purchase the silver discs? They would be perfect. I don't want to tear up my shadows, even the cheap ones. It would be like tearing up a book...hard. You have amazing ideas! So glad I found this.

[@ElaTell]

Julie Kent thank u so much!!

[@christianebehr138]

What a nice idea I realy like it so nice thank you very much greetings from Christiane Berlin Germany 😊

[@ElaTell]

Thank you for commenting, I’m glad you liked it and hope you try some of them!

[@caringsharing4719]

Can you please make a video To teach us how to cut the Mini ice cibe tray ? Thanks a lot ♡

[@steviecraven6254]

Ich Und Du if you're still wondering I would suggest heavy duty scissors or heavy duty wire cutters

[@lili721]

Creative!

[@ElaTell]

lili721 thanks!! :)

[@EmmaMorgan09]

Half palette half tray... half PAN? 🎨 xxxgenius ideas xxxxx

[@taylorjudi]

Did the brand of paint you used dry without cracking? Thanks for the great video and fabulous ideas.

[@ElaTell]

Yep, the Holbein paints dried without cracking or shrinking, and they were very fluid, so it was easy to fill all the palettes with them. I did have one Mijello Gold tube for comparison, and that one had thicker paint that was much harder to spread around and it cracked and shrank after drying.

[@nikkogutierrez5393]

Great ideas

[@ElaTell]

Nikko Gutierrez thanks!! So glad it was helpful!

[@nafordebi]

hi can u post a link for the itops

[@corikay]

Another great video...I would like to know how you cut down the ice cube tray so evenly. What tool(s) did you use to make it smooth?

[@ElaTell]

I forgot to mention this in the video, sorry! My father has a lot of tools, and he helped me - he clamped the tray, then used a thin handsaw to saw off the piece, and then a metal file to file the plastic down as needed, and then file paper to file it to be smooth. If you have these tools, then it's not very difficult - it took about 20 min to make 4 trays. There was a little bit of a learning curve and he cut the first one too close and messed it up a little - that's the one I'm using. The other 3 came out perfectly.

[@corikay]

Thank you for such a fast response! If you get an opportunity to video the cutting and filing of the palette insert...I'd love to see it. Guess I need a visual... I have the tray, and it is a very hard plastic. I think I probably do not have an adequate cutting tool. Thank you again!!!

[@ElaTell]

corikay No problem! Next time I'm at my parents', if my dad is ok with it, I will ask him if I can make a video of it. The plastic seems hard, and I thought the same thing, but once he started cutting with the handsaw, it went through it like butter. If you have it clamped so it doesn't move, that makes all the difference as well.

[@corikay]

I am doing the "happy dance"! Thank you so much!...By the way, can't wait to see the beautiful things you end up with in your TN from vacation! Enjoy!

[@huntermarlette3415]

Toothpicks work as well as a clay tool for spreading the paint

[@JF-kv1gm]

I suppose that you could even use a finished blister pack which has had capsules or tablets in it, although the quantity of paint would be really minimal

[@ElaTell]

True! I didn’t go with those because there’s usually a lot of space between the pill depressions, and I was looking for options that would keep things more compact. But it would definitely be a lightweight option.

[@kalinrivera9297]

can you do a video on a diy pencil case pritty pritty please

[@sherrylynns5325]

You can add a tiny bit of honey or glycerin to keep paint from cracking

[@SuperXrunner]

sweet. thanks

[@ElaTell]

Thanks for watching!

[@nadinesawtell3267]

Mission paints are student quality ( less pigment) add a drop of glycerine or honey to prevent cracking

[@ElaTell]

Nadine Sawtell I don’t have mission paints, but thank u for the tip, sounds like a good idea for a lot of the paints I have, including Daniel Smith

[@bianxiee_arts]

Where did u buy the mini cube trays?

[@ElaTell]

Bianxiee bed bath and beyond. I'm sure Amazon has then and kitchen supply stores. Good luck!

[@bianxiee_arts]

Thank you so much :3 !!

[@sandjune2753]

It's not clear what the plastic is at the beginning. What did you buy with circles in the plastic to begin with as you haven't said ?

[@ElaTell]

It was something along these lines, basically scrapbooking/mixed media art ephemera: a.co/d/98MgwhW But mine had the little indentations separated rather than attached

[@ryemabrahamson]

You can also use cheap 1$ tooth picks

[@Artofparul]

Which watercolor are those?

[@ElaTell]

Parul these are Holbein tube watercolors. I got them on Amazon for a good price. Thanks for watching!

[@Artofparul]

@@ElaTell your most welcome 😊.