How To Create an Aura Blast Design with Unicorn Spit Rainbow Gel Stain

The Aura Blast is one of the first Unicorn SPiT techniques I learned when I started working with this awesome rainbow gel stain a few years ago—and it is still one of my favorites.

It is easy to create an Aura Blast Design bursting with layers of colors. A Unicorn SPiT Aura Blast looks beautiful on all kinds of painted furniture makeovers, including tabletops, dresser drawers and bookcases.

STEP-BY-STEP DIY TUTORIAL

How to Create an Aura Blast Design with Unicorn SPiT

Here’s the “before” shot. The backing on this little bookcase is the perfect spot to create an Aura Blast Design with Unicorn SPiT, the non-toxic rainbow gel stain and glaze we sell at our store All Things New Again in Leesburg, Virginia—and right here in our online store too.

You can apply Unicorn SPiT onto sanded down wood or over a painted surface. I started by painting the fake wood with with The Gulf from Dixie Belle Paint, the no-VOC chalk/mineral paint we also sell at our shop.

Once the paint dried, I was ready to start the Aura Blast Design.

Supplies:

• Unicorn Spit (3-4 colors are best)
• Syringe UPDATE: This tutorial was written a few years ago. Unicorn SPiT now comes in squirt bottles so you can skip the syringe and apply the product directly from the bottle. The photographs in this tutorial show me applying it with a syringe.
• Spray bottle filled with water
• Paper towels/baby wipes (This is messy!)
• Oil-based polyurethane and foam applicator

STEP 1: Start by choosing your color pallet. I think you need at least 3 or 4 colors for best results. You can always come back in and add even more colors later. (I usually do!) For this blast, I started with: White Ning, Purple Hills Majesty, Pixie Punk Pink and Blue Thunder. I added some Zia Teal on top of everything later.

STEP 2: Draw concentric circles onto your surface. Repeat with your other colors until your surface looks like a bulls-eye.

SPIT TIP: Your circles won’t be perfect. That’s OK.

This isn’t an engineering project. This is ART! It will look good in the end. Keep going. 

Now here comes the messy/fun part!

STEP 3: Lightly spray some water onto your hand so it glides across the surface smoothly.

STEP 4: Plop the side of your hand down right there in the center of your bulls-eye and drag your hand down in a straight line across all of the other colors along the way. This will blend the colors together as you go.

STEP 5: Repeat Step 4 starting at the center and fanning out like spokes on a bicycle wheel. Wipe off your hand and spray it with more water as needed.

Here’s what my Unicorn SPiT Aura Blast Design looked like at this point. I’m not done yet!

You may notice lines on your design leftover from STEP 1. I find the lines are more prominent with the darker colors because they stain the wood more quickly. You can leave the lines and incorporate them into your design if you like how they look.

I like to use the lines as a little road map to show me where to start applying my next layer of Unicorn SPiT

Apply a smaller squirt of Unicorn SPiT next to the line and fan out and over it a little bit. You don’t have to go all the way to the edge. Just apply more colors here and there and blend them over the line with your fingers.

This step adds another dimension to your design, fills in any bare spots and blends everything together better.

STEP 6: Now you just play around with it. Blending some more here. Adding some more colors there. This is the part where there are no instructions.

This is the part where you create art.

SPIT TIP: If your colors start to blend too much and look muddled, STOP. Let the Unicorn SPiT dry and then come back and finish. It is tempting to keep going, but you don’t want to mess up your beautiful Aura Blast Design by overworking it.

You can always apply more Unicorn SPiT on top of your previous design after it dries. This actually looks really cool in the end and is what gives your designs a more three-dimensional look after you seal it. So if you don’t like your design at first, just let it dry and try another one right on top of it.

STEP 7: When you are happy with the design you created, let it dry completely. Then seal your work with an OIL-BASED sealer. I like Minwax Polyurethane. Three to four thin coats of poly are recommended, letting each coat dry completely and sanding lightly with 220 fine grit sandpaper in between.

Here’s my Unicorn SPiT Aura Blast Design!

I love this Unicorn SPiT technique because every Aura Blast you create will look different—even if you use the same colors.

A Unicorn SPiT Aura Blast Design is a one-of-a-kind work of art!

~ Courtney

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The Aura Blast Design is just one technique we teach in our Introduction to Unicorn Spit class at All Things New Again in Leesburg, VA. Here are a few photos from a recent class. We practice three techniques on boards, then you choose your favorite for a jewelry rack you “spit on” in class, take home and enjoy.

And here’s the link again to our online store. We ship Unicorn SPiT throughout the U.S. We have been Unicorn SPiT retailers from the very beginning and we truly appreciate your continued support of our small, family-owned business.