I made this set of travel watercolor brushes for $10 but you can make it for free if you have some extra brushes lying around. I started off with these brushes that I bought on sale for $10. Watch the video to see how!

Directions:

I gently brushed the brush ends across fine sandpaper to flag the ends so they will be more absorbent for watercolor. It made my brushes about twice as absorbent and they still came to a point and have plenty of snap. Do this at your own risk and only for watercolor.

Then I cut the brushes in half (if you are using standard brushes cut them to the length you want) and used a pencil sharpened to sharpen the smaller brush ends to a point for scraping and the larger ones I just rounded over. You will want to sand them too.

I also cut a standard plastic drinking straw in half at and angle as an extender and additional mark making tool. You will need a larger straw for the larger brushes unless you want to whittle down the handle a bit. I hope you enjoyed this quick DIY!

I also wanted to mention that I used serrated utility scissors to cut down a bamboo brush roll I wasn’t using (it came in last months smart art box) to fit these so the tips will not get damaged in travel. You can see the brushes in the roll in the photo at the top of the post.

Will you be making any travel brushes? Let me know in the comments below and if you liked this video consider sharing it (handy social media sharing button below.) Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!