You Can Folk It!: How to make your paints last longer

There's nothing we love more than browsing the paint colours and swatches at Folky HQ, deciding which ones we would like to use or which combinations will create a dreamy shade for a new project. However, just like when you sit down to indulge in a bit of creative me time at home, it is very rare we can paint uninterrupted and use all our paints up and when you are painting, the last thing you need when painting your comma strokes is drying paint. Even if you do get to enjoy an uninterrupted Folk It session (yay!) sometimes paints go such a long way, we end up wasting a lot of the paint we've poured out. Fear not though, we are here to share a crafty secret that will change all that.

The most valuable piece of kit for us is a wet palette. This container will help keep your paints wet for a few days, perfect for those times when we get interrupted. The great thing is that with a bit of time and a few supplies, you can create your own.

For a wet palette you will need:

An airtight container (we purchased a cheap klip lock style food container)

Sponge cloth

Baking paper (ensure that it is the unwaxed version, your paints will not sit well on waxed paper making blending your paints especially difficult)

scissors

Step 1: cut your sponge to size. You will need the sponge to sit neatly inside the lid of the box once it is wrapped.

Prevent waste and make your paints last longer with your own wet palette. For the price of a few household items, save money and art supplies.

Step 2: Lay your newly cut sponge cloth on your baking paper and cut your baking paper to size. (imagine you are wrapping the sponge just as you would a gift).

Step 3: thoroughly wet your sponge cloth and squeeze out any excess water.

Step 4: wrap the (now wet) sponge in the baking paper so that one side of the sponge is smooth.

How to save money and paints - create your own palette

Step 5: lay the sponge in the lid of the box, add the acrylics you need and paint as normal :) in the event of any interruptions, simply clip the 'lid' on over it.

Sit back, relax and enjoy your new palette! For the price of a few household supplies, you can rest easy that you can pop the lid on any time you wish and return to your project soon. The box will keep the paints fresh for a few days (hopefully enough time to complete the project you are working on). Make sure that you refresh your sponge with water and rewrap in fresh baking paper when it becomes too messy to use.