Faux Mercury Glass

Transformation Tuesday - Post #8

 

 

First up.... let me just say I am so sorry if you were looking for a Transformation Tuesday post last week.  I promise you... I have a great reason!  Mr. LAHWJ hurt his back while working in Afghanistan and came home unexpectedly last Wednesday.  It put quite a kink in my plans for last week so I had to squeeze a lot into Monday and Tuesday.  Thankfully, he's doing okay (and I am so happy that he's home) but I see a lot of doctor visits in our near future!  I am also playing chauffeur.... Oh, but just wait until he gets my bill for chauffeur services.  Lol!

 

I love mercury glass and if you've been in Homegoods, TJ Maxx, or Marshal's lately you'll find tons of mercury glass vases, candleholders, etc. lining their shelves for the holidays.  Most also come with a hefty price tag!  This week I thought I'd share a quick and easy tutorial showing how to create your own faux mercury glass. 

 

Here are the supplies that you'll need:
 

Painter's tape

Mirror Image (Rustoleum) or Looking Glass (Krylon) spray paint

Gold Metallic spray paint

Glass Vases, Candleholders, etc

Spray bottle (mixture of 1/2 water and1/2 vinegar)

Paper towels (or rag)

Scrap paper

  

Step 1:  Make sure your vases, candleholders, containers are clean.  I had several of these stashed in the attic and a few I picked up at the dollar store.

 

Step 2:  Tape off the outside of the container using painters tape and scrap paper. (The Mr. complains that I save everything but sometimes it pays off.)

 

Step 3:  Spray the inside of the container with the water/vinegar mixture. 
 

Step 4:  Spray a few quick light squirts of the mirror image paint all around the inside of the container.  Pour off any extra water using the paper towels or rag.

 

Step 5:  Allow to dry a minute or two and repeat steps 3 and 4 until you reach the desired effect.  I sprayed these vases, etc. with three coats.  I didn't want the glass to be completely covered.  I really like just a hint of the mirror image.

 

Step 6:  Finally, spray the container with the water/vinegar mixture and a few light squirts of the gold paint.  This will leave just a slight hint of the gold.  If you prefer more of a gold look, spray a few coats of the gold paint before using the mirror image spray.

 

Step7:  Allow to dry completely.  Remove the tape and paper. 
 

All done!

 

 

 I love the mix of silver and gold.  The gold is very muted and adds a nice touch to the primarily silvery Christmas thing I've got going on. 

 

I added several of them with a mixture of other candleholders to our dining table as a centerpiece.  They are beautiful lit up at night!  I love the mix of the silver antler candleholders, the large mercury glass cylinders, small votive holders, and glass tapered candle holders. 

 

 

 

 

I will also share with you a little strategy that I use to keep from buying those expensive tall candles.  I turn a small candle holder upside down inside the larger cylinder and use a smaller candle.  It's the perfect height.   I also used tapered candles inside a few of the cylinders.  You could also fill the cylinders with Epsom salt. 

 

 

 

And here's one more picture of the faux mercury glass pieces being used as a vase.  I love how it looks next to the mercury glass lamp on our nightstand. 

 

 

 

 

It's perfection in my book and I love the money I saved doing it myself! 

 

Happy Tuesday!

 

Jody

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Pottery Barn Inspired Snowman Pillow

Transformation Tuesday - Post #7

  

  

Alright, alright .... I know!  Christmas Already????  I realize it's just November and we haven't even celebrated Thanksgiving yet but I am super excited about this post! 

While some of you have been planning your Thanksgiving meal, I've been getting a jump start on things this year and all the Christmas crafts and décor ideas I've got rattling around in my head!  I love all things Christmas and especially holiday décor!

While pouring through the Pottery Barn catalog, I saw this adorable snowman pillow cover.  Adorable.... but with a whopping price tag of $39.50!  After studying the picture, I decided that I would come up with my own version for little or nothing.

 

Here's how this little snowman pillow project idea came to life.....

I started with a piece of neutral colored cotton/muslin like fabric that I had left from another project.  I think it was around $3/yd. Sewing is not my forte so I pretty much stick to making envelope style pillow covers ( no zipper!).  There are a ton of tutorials out there for envelope pillow covers but here is one that is pretty easy to follow. 

I cut my fabric to size and marked the center of the cover with pens so that I would know where I needed to add my design.  I used just a regular #2 pencil and drew a rough sketch of the design right on the fabric.

 

Next, I broke out my acrylic craft paint.  I used black, metallic black, white, pearl white, red, and burnt umber.  I started by painting the snowman, mixing the paints with my brush for the shading and highlights.  I kept a picture of the Pottery Barn pillow handy using it as a guide.  It quickly came together! 

Of course, I am not an artist (not even close) and quite obviously it doesn't look exactly like the PB pillow.  Nonetheless, I love it and am quite proud of how it turned out!  Plus, I am $39.50 richer!

By the way, I choose to sew the cover together after I painted it.  I didn't want to waste my time sewing it if my painting skills didn't pay off!  (It happens to the best of us!)

It has found a home for the holidays on the bench next to our back door.  It looks quite festive with the "Baby..it's cold outside" chalkboard and scarf.  (Forgive the chalkboard art....I still need to work on that!)

 

This little pillow cover inspired me to do several more that hopefully I'll get around to sharing before the holidays!

There's only 50 days until Christmas!  I hope I've inspired some of you to break out your paint brushes and get your "artist" on! 

As always, thanks for listening to me ramble!

Jody