Mercury Glass? Faux Sho! (tutorial)

Hello Hello!!! Thanks so much for stopping by!  If you are coming from Pinterest, I hope you find this tutorial helpful and are able to make some amazing Mercury glass of your own!  As of June 2013, this blog will no longer have new posts.  I have stopped blogging here at White Picket Bentz and am now at The Landing Pad.  This blog will remain up and active for the old posts, but I have also put this same tutorial over there as well, so feel free to hop on over to the new blog and take a look around!!!

I LOVE me some mercury glass! There are so many awesome options out there……

 Pendant Lamps (Pottery Barn)

Candle holders (Pottery Barn)

….and you may remember my mercury glass pumpkins that were tragically sold out just a short time ago……..(side note – the small and large are back, but if you keep reading….I don’t need them!)

While lamenting that I wouldn’t have the chance to purchase one of those big beauties (for $39 at PB) I remembered that I had saved a mercury glass tutorial on Pinterest……I had seen DIY’d pendant lamps (like the one above) and tons of hurricane vases.  I had these saved for a “some day” project when I needed something new, but then I remembered this guy……

A clear pumpkin candy dish I was given as a hand-me-down from my mom when I had zero fall decor! I had used it for Halloween candy in the past, but this girl’s hips (and the hubs) sure don’t need to have that tempting goodness junk around the house!   I was PUMPED to get started (insert 1st giddy, dance-around-the-house of this post here….let’s keep count!)

As I learned in my faux-mercury glass research, the key “ingredient” to knocking-off these fabulous decor pieces was the Krylon Looking Glass spray paint…

After driving all over creation, we learned that this is not sold at Lowes, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Sherwin Williams or ACE Hardware.  According to my research it is sold at Hobby Lobby (closed on Sunday – not going to help my Sunday afternoon search), Michaels, and JoAnn Fabric.  Shaun and I ventured to Michaels and searched the spray paint section…..no luck.  We headed to JoAnn’s…….again, nothing.  I did some quick research on my phone and saw that Michaels has it, but you have to look in the glass paint aisle.

Back to Michaels we went. You can imagine the ecstatic-ness when we found it in the glass paint aisle.  There was even a mini-happy dance in the aisles at Michael’s.  I had to keep it under wraps though, we were out in public and Shaun gets embarrassed by me!  The paint was $12.99 (sort of pricey) but with a 40% off coupon, $8 mercury glass was within my reach!!!!

(Now, on to the action part of this segment!) If you are going to make your own, I HIGHLY suggest practicing on some junk glass that you are okay to mess up. GoodWill is a good spot to hit up for some cheap vases/candle holders/cups, etc.  We had a bunch of leftover vases from our wedding so I got to work…..my first two attempts were nothing to be proud of……read – total failure.

I had to get my technique right before I moved on to try #3….and thankfully that was a success.

For those of you who want to make your own mercury glass…..this tutorial will help you make awesome mercury glass on your own…and for cheap!

Supplies

• Krylon Looking Glass Spray Paint
• Glass vase, candle cup, etc.
• Spray bottle with 1/2 water, 1/2 vinegar
• Paper towels

How to

1.  It’s best to lay your piece on its side, if possible.  You will be spraying the INSIDE of the glass.  The paint is sprayed on the side opposite of the mirror finish.

2.  Spray the Looking Glass paint in short, light bursts, holding the can approximately 6-8 inches away from the opening of the glass.  After each spray, turn the glass a quarter turn.  The Looking Glass paint can be runny, so the key to successful coverage is the light, short bursts.  If your paint “puddles” on the glass, you can try to wipe it up a bit but it won’t cover evenly.

3.  The paint will appear a dull gray at first, but in just a few short seconds, the wonderful mirror-magic will appear right before your eyes! (insert happy dance-around-the-garage #2 here)

4.  Allow your paint to dry for only about 60 seconds.

5.  Lightly spray the inside of the glass with the vinegar/water mixture so it beads lightly on the paint.  The vinegar is acidic enough to begin to eat away at the paint on the glass.

6.  Let the beads “set” for a minute and tightly wrap your pointer finger with a sheet of paper towel.  Soak the paper towel with the vinegar/water mixture.

7.  Begin to “push” on the beads of water with the paper towel to “break” the paint…..

Its easier to watch your work through the outside as you go, so you can see the “pattern” you are making in the paint.  Be careful to keep the paper towel tight around your finger, or else you will wipe away the paint on the side opposite of where you are working.

When “pushing” the paint, push firm enough to move the paint, but do not wipe the paint away. The key is to just move the paint around – creating a crackle effect, rather than wiping it off.

Once they were dry, I sprayed the inside of mine with a clear sealer from Krylon to protect the paint in the future.  You could also use a brown glaze on the inside to give your glass a nice warm tone. I preferred the “original” look.

Obviously, due to the serious flammable, toxic nature of the paint/sealer, no food items can go in these glasses!

Once I got a few successful pieces done……LOVE THEM!!! Happy dance #3!!!!!

….I moved on to my little pumpkin……

Insert HUGE happy dance here!!! I love it!!! So much better than paying $39+tax+shipping from good ole PB for one pumpkin!

If you don’t have one of these pumpkin candy dishes already, you can find them just about anywhere this time of year from grocery store seasonal aisles, to Target, WalMart, craft stores, etc.  I think you can get them for under $5!

Total cost for mercury glass pumpkin, hurricane, and 2 tea-light holders:

Roughly $8! That is some definite bang for your buck!

Here she is, all staged and ready to go for Fall along with some other metallic pumpkins and leaves!!

Fall has officially arrived here at the Bentz house! What do you think??

Hope you can use this tutorial and make some awesome mercury glass for yourself!

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