https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/mercury-glass • Posted by Jackie H.
I made my own giant mercury glass vases! I have been really inspired by all the mercury glass I see on DIY blogs and in stores. You start to see more and more of it around the holidays. I really wanted to incorporate some mercury glass into my dining room makeover. I envisioned some beautiful hurricanes, a la Martha Stewart, for the tablescape.
I made my own giant mercury glass vases! I have been really inspired by all the mercury glass I see on DIY blogs and in stores. You start to see more and more of it around the holidays. I really wanted to incorporate some mercury glass into my dining room makeover. I envisioned some beautiful hurricanes, a la Martha Stewart, for the tablescape.
I ended up scoring two amazing glass vases at HomeGoods. I love their unique shape. They both remind me of beakers you might see in a chemistry lab. They are also big enough to hold a candle and act as a hurricane. The taller vase was $12.99…amazing. The shorter vase was only…wait for it…$6.99…legendary!
The most difficult part of this project was tracking down the Krylon Looking Glass Spray Paint. I always prefer to buy in person, because when I want something I want it now. Well, after 4 stores that carry crafts and/or spray paint I gave in and ordered from Amazon. Just in case, I ordered two cans. That was good because they are smaller than normal spray paint. They are only 6oz each. They were $11.99 each. Note: I saw a huge range of prices on this stuff. I got this price by having my husband order through his Amazon Prime account.
I followed two tutorials to achieve my final look. First, I started with the super simple Martha Stewart DIY Mercury Glass tutorial, which only requires a spray bottle of water and the Looking Glass paint. Here is where I confess I am not good at faux. I am a perfectionist and faux is usually the opposite of perfection. But I am trying to explore my lime side (not sure what I mean? read about my teal & lime sides). I just was not achieving the look I wanted with Martha’s tutorial alone. The water helps mottle the paint, which is very runny on it’s own, but it does not really give an aged look. You can see in this work in progress photo how the paint was mottled in some areas and had a perfect mirror like finish in others.
I wanted something a little more vintage, aged, grunge. Then I remembered this tutorial on Take the Side Street. Anna’s secret ingredient was vinegar. The acidity eats away the paint a little bit. I did not follow her tutorial initially, so I just ran with the vinegar idea. I sprayed vinegar inside my vessels and then wiped lightly with a damp paper towel with a small circular motion. My teal side, the perfectionist in me, thinks I may have gone a little too grunge, but my free-spirited lime side thinks they are just right.
I think lit mercury glass is the most beautiful. Since the mouth of my vases are wide enough to sneak in a pillar candle, I turned them into hurricanes. I was concerned about real candles sitting in spray painted vases and did not want to buy another glass candle holder to nestle inside. Instead I decided to give flameless candles a try. I found a set of 3 flameless pillar candles at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. They also have individual pillars, larger sets, and even flameless votives. They look pretty realistic since the outside is made with real candle wax. Obviously if you look at the flame piece you can tell it is fake. But from the side they look very real. They even flicker. They add the perfect warm glow to these mercury glass vessels. The total cost of this project, not including the flameless candles, was $33. Only one can of Looking Glass paint was used. That is a steal for two large mercury glass vases, faux or not.