Faux Mercury Glass Vases

All those pretty/aged candles and vases you find in the shops for $30+ can now be made for a few bucks. Yeeeessss. The past year I’ve seen SO many different tutorials for homemade faux glassware, but I hadn’t seen any DIY’s that you can actually turn into a vase (the usual tutorial sprays paint INSIDE of the glassware). I wanted to actually use my vases to hold flowers, so I tried something… Instead of spraying the paint inside the glassware, I sprayed it on the OUTside. It turned out lovely! Here’s how I did it.

Supplies:

• Glassware: an old glass vase, jar, or even an old glass container. If you can’t find anything, head to your local thrift store.
• Krylon Looking Glass Mirror Spray Paint
• Spray bottle
• White Vinegar and water mixture (1/2 water + half vinegar)
• Paper towels
• Drop cloth/paper
• Respirator mask (safety first!)
• Gloves (messy)
• Optional: goggles

Directions:

1. Clean and completely dry your glassware.
2. Get your tools all ready: Put your vinegar + water mixture into the spray bottle, set the nozzle to the lightest mist setting possible. Lay down your drop cloth (outside or in a very well ventilated space), and set your glassware up. Get your gloves, mask, and beautiful goggles on. Have your paper towels nearby… ok, let’s do this!
3. Spray a layer of the mirrored paint on the outside of a glass. Follow this with a light spritz of the vinegar + water mixture. Let that sit for 2 – 4 minutes.
4. When your wait time is up, dab the vinegar + water mixture off of the glass. DON’T rub. That will smudge the paint. Just a light dab.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you’re happy with how the glass looks! I added about 4 layers of mirror glass to each piece (each layer was followed by a spritz of vinegar + water and then dabs).
6. Let the paint dry for 24 hours.

Add some flowers and enjoy!