DIY Rock Painting Art Ideas for Christmas

Try your hand at these adorable DIY rock painting art ideas for Christmas! I’ll be showing you 3 painted rock ideas that will each be a fun craft to get you in the holiday spirit. 

These festive rocks would be a unique and perfect addition to your Christmas decorations. Display them in your home, on a porch, or in the yard. You can also place them at a local park and give them away as kindness rocks.

I think the rocks would be an easy Christmas gift to give co-workers or teachers so they can display one of these painted stone cuties on their desk.

How about gettin the whole family involved for a fun night of Christmas rock painting. Choose a design idea that fits the appropriate skill level of each age group, make the sketches, and let everyone color and paint the design. That would be a fun way to enjoy the holiday season and make gifts while you’re at it!  

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DIY ROCK PAINTING ART IDEAS FOR CHRISTMAS

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

• yard or river rocks
• variety craft acrylic paints
• pencil
• variety artist paint brushes
• black Paper Mate marker – medium point
• Q-Tips
• mini pom poms
• glue gun
• sealer (optional)

IDEAS FOR PAINTING CHRISTMAS ROCK ART

I chose to paint fun designs of cartoons representing Rudolph, The Grinch and Santa Claus on my rocks with the help of Google images, but you can always make your own designs.

STEP 1 – SELECT ROCKS FROM YOUR YARD

Locate rocks from your yard that are about 3 to 5 inch in size. Look for interesting shapes with at least one side that is somewhat smooth.

STEP 2 – FIND CHRISTMAS CARTOON STYLE FACE IMAGES

I researched on Google for Christmas cartoon character images. For example, “Rudolph cartoon faces,” “Santa cartoon faces,” and “Grinch cartoon faces.” Once each search was up, choose “images” so you’ll be able to see tons of ideas.

Choose faces that are cute and funny like ones with exaggerated chins, ears, or eyes, etc.. See which rocks will work the best with the face shapes.

I used an odd shaped rock that worked out for Santa’s hat to fit the weird shape. The elongated Rudolph turned out perfect for the thin oval rock and I think the tiny Santa hat looks adorable on the big faced Grinch.

STEP 3 – PREPARE THE ROCKS FOR PAINTING

If you’ll be using rocks from your yard like I did, you’ll need to scrub and wash them and let them dry completely. I found a source for 2 inch to 3 inch and 3 inch to 4 inch river rocks if needed. River rocks are smooth stones with flat surfaces compared to yard ones and will likely just need to be wiped off.

STEP 4 – BASE COAT THE ROCKS

The base color of the rocks will be white. Matte Apple Barrel will need about 4 coats, FolkArt Multi-Surface will need about 2 coats, and chalk paint will need 2 coats. I used chalk paint because I didn’t have enough white craft paint and it worked out just fine.

STEP 5 – SKETCH THE CHRISTMAS CHARACTER FACES

Refer to each of the Christmas cartoon faces you liked the best and start sketching. Keep in mind you can under or overexaggerate a design to fit your rock size. Like for the Grinch, I made his hat tiny since there wasn’t enough room for a larger one. I think it looks ridiculously funny!

TIP – Rotating the rock and looking upside down can help you see to paint ovals and circles more uniform while rotated.

BEST MARKERS AND PAINTS TO USE FOR ROCK PAINTING

​When outlining rock designs, I like using markers like the Paper Mate Flair Tip or a black Sharpie, both are permanent markers and come in different tip sizes. A black paint pen from local craft stores is also an option to give a try.

Popular paint pens to use in place of craft paint is the POSCA brand. I’ve seen many people in rock art groups on Facebook say that these are fabulous, yet I still haven’t purchased any myself. They come in a variety of colors and different quantity size boxes, as well as, different tip sizes.

STEP 6 – PAINT THE RUDOLPH ROCK AND OUTLINE IN BLACK

I used many different sizes of artist brush heads so have several kinds on hand because you’re going to have tiny to large areas to paint in your face designs. Check out this artist brush variety pack if needed.

Use a black Paper Mate marker to outline Rudolph. You’ll need to go back after the first outline and thicken up the line for a bold look.

TIP – Be very careful when outlining because it takes many, many, many coats of white paint to fix a marker mistake. Ask me how I know!

STEP 7 – PAINT THE SANTA ROCK AND OUTLINE IN BLACK

Paint 3 coats in the colored areas with an artist brush. The red paint is hard to get coverage so I may have painted more than 3 coats.

I had to go back and redo Santa’s eyes since I forgot to add black pupils over the royal blue irises, so don’t follow the eyes below. Add those pupils!

Use a black Paper Mate marker to outline Santa Claus.

STEP 8 – PAINT THE GRINCH AND OUTLINE IN BLACK

STEP 9 – SPRAY ROCKS WITH A SEALER (OPTIONAL)

STEP 10 – ADD EMBELLISHMENTS

Use a glue gun to attach the mini pom poms.

I hope you enjoy my DIY rock painting art ideas for Christmas and have lots of fun painting Rudolph, Santa, and The Grinch!

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE TO SEE THESE CRAFTS!

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It’s once again time for the “Sustainable Craft Challenge” where I join some of my creative blogging friends and we all share a craft with an eco-friendly, sustainable element in our project. I’m painting ordinary rocks from my yard for our “Christmas” theme this month. Our hostess is Julie at Sum of Their Stories. Be sure to visit all the links after my craft to see 6 more blogger ideas!

VIEW CHRISTMAS CRAFTS FROM 6 MORE BLOGGERS!

Julie @ Sum of their Stories ~ Christmas Ornaments From an Old Sari

Terri @ Our Good Life ~ Recycled Crystal Tabletop Christmas Tree

Purple Hues and Me ~ Upcycled Plastic Bottle Christmas Ornaments

Christine @ Christine’s Crafts ~ Creative Paper Baubles / Sustainable Crafting with Wallpaper

Marci @ Old Rock Farmhouse ~ DIY Seed Packets for Hollyhocks

T’onna @ Sew Crafty Crochet ~ Winter Star Ornament