We’ll give it to you straight: Your gift-giving skills are a little basic, and it may be time to upgrade them. There’s no need to spend on personalized note cards or scour racks for witty greeting cards. All you need are a few inexpensive tools and an entire afternoon to make a cool set of marbled stationary (and if you’re feeling crafty, some envelopes and gift tags, as well).

Materials
Medium-weight watercolor paper
Black poster paint
Foamy shaving cream from a can
Paintbrush
Toothpicks
A cookie sheet
Envelopes
Scissors
Spatula or piece of hard card

Directions
1. Cut your watercolor paper into the size of a sheet of bond paper.

2. Line your work area with old newspapers. Put your cookie sheet on top.

3. Shake the can of shaving cream and put a layer of shaving cream on the cookie sheet (about two inches thick), covering an area larger than your watercolor paper.

4. Using a paintbrush, take some of the poster paint and sprinkle the paint on different areas of the shaving cream.

5. With a toothpick, swirl the paint around the shaving cream to create a marbling pattern.

6. Quickly lay the paper flat on top of the marbled cream, lightly pressing onto the pattern, and keeping it steady for a few seconds. Then carefully remove the paper from the cream.

7. Lay the paper flat, then using a spatual or piece of hard card, quickly remove the excess shaving cream (in one stroke, if possible). Be sure to remove all the cream. This will prevent the paper from getting too wet.

8. Once dry, you can trace your envolopes on top of your marbled paper to create liners, or simply cut them into shapes for bookmarks of gift tags.

Photos and styling by Ina Amor Mejia