How to Make DIY Rainbow River Rocks For a Magical Yard Decor Idea

Kelly-n-Tony
by Kelly-n-Tony
9 Materials
$25
3 Hours
Easy

I got this idea from a school that involved their students in making a colorful rainbow rocky river. I knew it would give my own yard a beautiful burst of magical color and wanted to make my own DIY rainbow river rocks.


Here's how to make rainbow rocks for your garden, then use them in a fun landscaping idea:

Laying down the landscaping fabric

1. Lay down the landscaping fabric

Lay out your landscaping fabric and stake down the roll of edging with the waviness of a river.

Marking out the landscaping

We staked ours out along some logs and fencing. This part of the process took maybe 30 minutes max.

Spraying rocks with bright-colored paint

2. Spray rocks with bright colors

We gathered up all our old cans of spray paint. Anything in bright colors was okay for mine! But certainly, go with the colors you want. A variety of blues would be amazing!


Some bigger rocks we gathered up free but we needed more so bought a few bags of river rock. We did wash ours to be sure the paint would stick well.


I used leftover tins to paint in but boxes work as well. Once you spray the rocks, let them dry then flip them over or at least get their sides that might show. The painting is what took the most time.


My granddaughter helped with the spray painting- she's a great help!

Rainbow rock landscaping

3. Add the rainbow rocks to the river

We mixed our colors up to get a rainbow effect. Pretty, right?


4. Trim the landscaping fabric

Lastly, you'll trim off the edge of the landscaping fabric from the edges to better define the wavy river look. Or you could add mulch or plants along the edge.

Glow-in-the-dark rocks

5. Add glow-in-the-dark rocks (optional)

We added some bags of "glow in the dark" rocks from Amazon but our area is rather shady. Perhaps if used in a sunnier location they'd glow brighter. If you try that let me know how it works for you.

DIY rainbow river rocks

DIY rainbow river rocks

Our gnomes really enjoy their Rainbow River - it's magical! Let us know what you think of this fun and colorful DIY project in the comments below.

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3 of 14 questions
  • Con49550443 Con49550443 on Jun 28, 2021

    Where is the video?


  • Tit50311793 Tit50311793 on Jul 16, 2021

    Ilove the Idea. But what happen when it rains. Did the paint will wash Out? What kind of paint it will work better?

  • Lisa Lisa on Jun 06, 2023

    Do you really add water to it after the rocks dry?

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