Make Faux Mercury Glass Vases from Recycled Jars

There’s something SO satisfying about taking something headed for the trash or for the recycling bin and turning it into something pretty, isn’t there? I’m sure not ashamed to say that I LOVE creating treasure from trash and those have been some of my favourite projects. Not only are they budget-friendly, but they usually cause you to use every ounce of creativity you have. Today, I’m sharing with you how I made some beautiful faux mercury glass vases from old pickle jars and baby food jars. If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that I have a thing using jars in my craft projects – they are so handy-dandy! Also, please scroll down to the bottom of this post to see more trash-to-treasure DIY projects from my blogging friends.

Aren’t these so pretty? I truly love the look of mercury glass. It simply screams vintage, and it’s sparkly. Sparkly is always good in my books.

There are quite a few faux mercury glass tutorials out there, but my technique is different. Most will tell you to spray your glass surface with a vinegar and water solution before spraying with mirror paint, but I don’t do that. I don’t like how it’s tricky to control whether or not your vinegar water will run and blotch. My technique uses mirror spray paint and oil rubbed bronze spray paint, and I think the outcome looks just as pretty!

Here’s what you need for this project:

clean pickle and/or baby food jars (I use a mixture of olive oil and baking soda to get the sticky labels off)
Krylon Looking Glass Silver-Like Aerosol Spray Paint 6 Oz.
(If you live in Canada like I do, you won’t be able to buy this online, but Michaels often has it in stock.)
Rust-Oleum 249131 11 oz Universal All Surface Spray Paint, Oil Rubbed Bronze Metallic

Directions:

Apply several very thin layers of the Looking Glass paint onto your jars. The trick is VERY THIN LAYERS. If you try to spray this stuff on in thick layers, it will drip and blotch and look horrible. Wait for one layer to dry before you spray on another one, and make sure you are in a well ventilated area while using this product and wearing a ventilated mask yourself.
Once the jars are completely dry and you can see your reflection in them (if you can’t, continue adding on more thin layers of mirror paint), spray a very thin mist of the oil rubbed bronze metallic spray paint randomly on the jars. You may want to practice on some cardboard or a scrap off wood first to see how much pressure you need to put on the spray can’s handle to get the spotted effect. It’s not too much pressure at all! I’ve found that even if I mess up a little (for example, a big blob of ORB spray paint shoots onto my jar), I can quickly blot it with a paper towel and the finished effect still looks good.
Let the jars dry, and you’re done! That’s it. This is such a simple project with a very satisfying impact.

I’ve used these all over my home for the past several months as vases for dried and fresh flowers. They’re very neutral and add a bit of glam to any room.