How to Personalize a Painted Rock Car

You can personalize a painted car rock with:

• Paint color
• Details of headlights, rear lights, rims, etc.
• License plate
• Passengers

Here's how I personalized a painted rock car for a Father's Day gift. (I already had a car-shaped rock on hand.)

First I gathered photos of the actual car model I wanted to paint on the rock which helped me choose the correct paint color and other identifying details.

I did not try to paint the car front exactly. Instead I chose a few simple details from my photo.

I referred to my photos to paint the rims.

I further personalized the auto with the rear lights and license plate. You can get very personal with the license plate by using names, vanity plate phrase, etc.

I took the personalization even further by adding a family of passengers on one side of the car. I just Mod Podged photo printouts onto the painted rock. (The tricky part was making sure the photos were the right size for the car.)

Ideas

• Paint a school bus full of classmates
• Paint a truck and add a photo for the driver
• Paint a train full of passengers

These personalized, painted rock cars are a great gift idea not only for Father's Day but for any boy (or girl) who loves vehicles. It's also a unique, one-of-a-kind permanent "frame" for favorite photos.

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My first painted rock car was a lot more fun than I expected because of the personalized details.

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

How to Paint a Santa Hat on Rocks and Stones

Just in time for the holidays I came across a rock that was perfect for painting this Santa hat.

Step 1:  If you look closely, you can see how I drew a line around the bottom third of the stone and added a circle towards the middle right.

Step 1 - Sketch simple hat design on stone

Step 2:  Next, I gave the stone a base coat in 2 different colors - yellow for the portions that will be painted red and a shade of blue for the sections that will be painted white. (To get the blue shade, I mixed medium blue with a touch of white and black acrylic paint).

Step 2 - Add base coat of blue and yellow acrylic paint

Tip:  I discovered that a binder clip was a great tool for holding the stone so I could paint both sides at once.

A binder clip is a great tool for holding a thin stone while painting

Step 3:  Then I painted over the yellow base coat on both sides of the stone with red acrylic paint.

Step 3 - Apply red paint over yellow on both sides of stone

Step 4:  I added a dab of black paint to the red to get a maroon color and outlined the blue circle, added a couple of arcs from the circle to the top of the hat, and added a line between the blue and red along the bottom.

Step 4: Outline and define

Step 5:  I achieved the fleecy texture by using a stiff, flat brush and dabbed on white paint, allowing some of the blue base coat to show through.

Step 5: Dab on white paint for the fleece

Idea 1:  You can stop here or add finishing touches such as sealer and glitter.

Three Variations - unsealed - sealed - glittered

Idea 2:  Here's another idea for your painted stone: Add a ribbon or pipe cleaner and your painted Santa hat rock has now become a Christmas tree ornament.

Painted Rock Santa Hat Ornaments

Idea 3:  You can personalize the Santa hat by adding a name or slogan to the bottom, white portion.

Painted Santa hat rocks make cute DIY Christmas gifts that are easy enough for children to paint and fun for all ages to give and receive.


© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks