Make ur own Blending Tool Foam

So I'm cheap sometimes. I totally believe that if you're going to eventually throw something away then why does it need to be hella expensive? Take the Ink Blending Foam Inkssentials for example. Retails for about $6, if you have a store coupon you'll probably get a max of 50% off. So that means $3-ish after tax for 10 foams. And how many foams can you go through in just one project if you really like to distress? Lots as I regrettably found out.


My solution? Why not make your own? I did and for super cheap. Here's how...


I found some fabric backed foam at Joann's in the remnants bin. I believe it's used for car seats and car roofs. 1.5 yards for like $8! You can also find it in the upholstery section of the fabric store under Headliner Foam. Link to JoAnn's Fabric- Headliner Fabric
You can buy it from other sites like Amazon but the cost is almost the same and you can't use a 40%-50% coupon.

It's a little bit smaller in the picture because I've already cut and used some to make cozies for soda cans. Anyhoo, cut a 4" x 36" strip from the main piece of foam.  I cut my first strip a little bit bigger to allow for foam movement and caffeine intake.

I like to fold the foam in half and clip so it doesn't move when I cut the longer strips.

After the initial strip is cut, I cut that into two 1 3/4" x 36" strips. You'll end up with a little left over which you'll just have to throw away.

After you have those strips, I cut them down to about 5 3/4" to make them more manageable. As you can see the strips are a little off because the foam moved a bit and I'm not trying to be extremely precise. Just make sure the strips line up on the side that you are cutting.

Lastly, cut out 1 3/4" x 1 1/4" rectangles. If you are having a tough time keeping the foam strips together you can use some masking tape to help hold the strips while you cut.

Here is my little pile of foams and my Blending tool which I used a staple gun to fasten down the Velcro. (Little tip from the Ranger Website)

Comparison: The actual Inkssentials Foams are 1 3/16" x 1 3/4". the Inkssentials are definitely thicker, but my little foams work just as well and are a fraction of the cost. It took me all of 30 mins to complete this task. And the nice thing is if you are careful about pulling off the foam from the blending tool you can label and reuse them.

Breaking it down: 36" x 36" foam (it's what I have left) = 504 foams for less than $8. If my math is correct, that's about 1.6 cents each vs 30 cents each for the Inkssentials foam!

*Note: I found that some rectangles were a little larger then the tool and I just trimmed it while it was on the blending tool. It's better to be a little smaller than larger in this case.