Watch a wood grain tumbler tutorial from start to finish. Learn how to spray paint, apply the alcohol inks, decals and epoxy.

I’ve shown you how to decorate a lot of different kinds of tumblers over the past year, but most of them have been primarily for the women in your life.  Well, not anymore!

I made a beautiful wood grain tumbler and I’m so excited to show you how easy it is to do!  I added decals and photos on it, but you could decorate it however you’d like.

That’s the beauty of making your own DIY tumblers, the sky is the limit on what you can put on them!  They can be so personalized to the person you are giving them to which always puts that beaming smile on their face!

Make sure to browse all of my other tutorials on how to make a glitter tumbler, how to make a fabric tumbler, how to apply waterslide pictures to tumblers, and how to make an alcohol ink tumbler.

I have a full video tutorial from start to finish on how to wood grain a tumbler (before the epoxy section) along with some printable instructions at the bottom.

What Color Alcohol Ink for Wood Grain?

There are quite a few different alcohol ink brands and colors on the market.

Let’s Resin, DecorRom, SigWong, and more have all come out with alcohol inks since they are becoming so popular and are such a fun thing to add to resin crafts.

If you are going to start making for crafts with resin, then a large set of a bunch of different colors might suit you well.

I had been using the Ranger Tim Holtz brand so I stuck with that one and honestly it’s the only one I’ve used so I can’t comment on the colors of the other brands.

The best wood grain alcohol ink colors are in the brown range.

Ranger has a great pack of 3 different brown colors that I think work perfectly to mimic the color of wood grain. I used this pack from Amazon that came with Caramel, Ginger, and Latte alcohol ink colors.

If you want even more variety there is a 7 pack of different brown alcohol inks available here.

Materials Needed for Wood Grain Tumbler

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links from Amazon and/or Cricut.com. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my links (purple text).

• tumbler – I used a Built tumbler I bought at Walmart.  I also like Mossy Oak and Ozark brand.
• alcohol inks and chip paint brush
• white spray paint
• spray enamel or glaze – this is what I had on hand and used
• epoxy
• printable vinyl for photos (optional) and printer
• Cricut cutting machine and vinyl – always check prices between Cricut.com and Amazon (click links to compare!)
• painter’s tape or electrical tape

Now…How to Make a Wood Grain Tumbler

I will go over all of this in the video below, but here are the bullet points:

Start off by taping off the top of the tumbler with electrical or painter’s tape. 

Place it upside down on a turn table or piece of paper in a well-ventilated area and spray the tumbler until every part is covered.

Let the paint fully dry (read side of the can on how long it should take).

I used all three alcohol inks from the pack I mentioned under the materials to make a three tone wood grain tumbler. 

You could just use one if you want it all the same color or two for a two tone wood color. As I said every one of these comes out unique!

This is much easier to explain how to do it in the video, so make sure to watch it;)  I started by using the darkest color (ginger) and squirted a line of the ink down the tumbler.

Then using the tips of a bristle brush, I brushed the ink back and forth down the length of the tumbler.  

There is no right or wrong way of making a wood grain tumbler!  That’s what makes them all one of a kind. 

Continue adding different colors of the alcohol inks and brushing them one at a time until the entire tumbler is covered.

To make wood knots on the tumbler, dab a small drop of the ink and let it ripple out in a circle.  Use the brush to gently brush the edges. 

Add another drop or two in the middle to add a more layered look.

One of the best thing about alcohol inks is that they dry very quickly! 

How to Seal Alcohol Ink

After about an hour, it is time to seal the wood look tumbler. 

Spray a clear coat of enamel over the entire alcohol ink tumbler.  This will prevent the inks from running together when the epoxy is added.

Spray the enamel on like we did the spray paint. Spray in a well ventilated area and either spin it on a turntable or walk around it while you spray from about a foot way.

I’d love if you come craft with me on Instagram!  I post a ton of short video tutorials on all sorts of different DIY projects.  Click the button below!

How to Add Photos to a Tumbler

On the glitter tumblers, I posted tutorials about before, I used waterslide paper to add pictures.  You can really do either. 

The one thing with waterslide decal paper is that it comes in clear or white.  I only had the clear one on hand.

The clear one will show the wood grain if there is any white in the picture.  White does not print!  So, on a white glitter tumbler using the clear water slide paper was fine.

I looked through my stash and I actually had printable vinyl that I had never used before.  It was so easy!  I think it might be my new go too!

I printed out pictures of the five grandchildren with a little edge border using Cricut Design Space.  You can use any program to print the pictures on the vinyl though.

Also, if you are new to CDS, make sure to check out my series of Cricut Design Space 101 tutorials to get started.

Once they are printed, let them fully dry.  Then you’ll need to seal them (just like water slide paper).  Spray a light layer of enamel or gloss all over them.

(I believe if you have a laser printer that you don’t have to seal, but since I don’t have a color laser printer, I can’t be certain. Maybe check by adding a little epoxy over the printed vinyl). 

Wait about 30 minutes and do another layer, making sure to spray in all directions.  I waited another 30 minutes and did a third layer just to be safe!

While they are drying, add a vinyl decal cut from a Cricut cutting machine or another machine to the front if you want.

Once the pictures are fully dry to the touch, cut out the pictures (or you could have the Cricut cut them out!).  Peel off the back of the vinyl and place on the wood grain tumbler. 

Press down well with your fingers.

Add tape to the top of the tumbler 1-2 mm above the paint line.  I wanted to make sure the tumbler would be shiny so I added another light layer of the glaze over the entire tumbler and let it dry.

Step by Step Wood Grain Tumbler Video Tutorial

The entire process is in the video and will seem so much easier once you see how to do it!  Make sure to turn your sound on so you can hear the details. 

You can also watch the video over on my YouTube channel here.

Time to Add Epoxy to the Tumbler  (it’s not as hard as you think!)

I built a DIY tumbler turner that I always use now.  If you don’t have one, check out my post here on how to apply epoxy with a homemade hand turner.

Stick the tumbler on the turner and prepare the epoxy.  I used 10 ml of both solutions for this wood grain tumbler.  Mix them both together well in another cup for at least 3 minutes.

Starting pouring a little epoxy over the tumbler and smooth it all the way up and down the tumbler with a gloved hand.

Add the entire mixture of epoxy over the tumbler and make sure it’s fully covered, including the bottom.  Let it turn!  I set a timer for 45 minutes and then remove the tape.

Let it turn for another 3-4 hours and then I let mine sit overnight before I remove it.  That’s it!

Here’s how the front of the DIY wood grain tumbler turned out with the vinyl layered decal.

And here are the cute photos!

I got to admit, I’m in love with how this turned out.  I think I see one for myself in the future, but I’m not sure my cupboard can hold any more tumblers!!

If you’d like to save this tutorial for later, hover over the top left of the picture below and PIN IT now. 

Here are the printable directions.

Thank you so much for stopping by.  Have a creative day!