Painted Turquoise Vases

Hello friends! It has been a great Spring break for us so far!  We have a new addition to the family.  His name is Cody and he's an 8 month old black lab.  He's a big boy that just loves to please and give lots of kisses. Lots and lots of kisses.  If you'd like to see the CUTEST picture of him, head on over to my facebook page.  I tried getting a picture up on the blog, but I'm having trouble transferring pictures from my photo stream.  Love technology! The picture is worth seeing though-trust me!

Ok, but enough of all that cuteness.  Now back to the reason for blogging- the real reason why we come here...design, DIY, crafts....etc...home stuff.  And do I have some home stuff to show you.  You know how Van Gogh had his blue period? Well, I'm going through a turquoise period.  Everything I see- dressers, lamps, tables, I think about how it would look in the perfect shade of turquoise.  Am  I obsessed?  No, not at all.  Ok, maybe just a little.  To alleviate my deep desire for the blue/green mix, I decided to "paint" some vases for my spring mantel.  Here's how they turned out.

I LOVE the way they turned out, but it took me a few times to get them to look like this.  I had plenty of failures in my attempt to have turquoise vases.  I'll give you a step by step process of what "not" to do and how you can achieve the "sea glass"  and "colored glass" look too.

 I've seen this coloring effect all over pinterest.  Some say to use regular glue, some say to use mod podge.  I decided to try both to see if there was a difference or what glue looks better.  Truthfully, there's not much difference but regular glue requires a little more water and give you more of a sea glass effect.  Nice.  Mod podge is a little easier to work with because it's thinner and it gives a clearer colored glass look.  Also Nice. You'll see what I'm talking about in another picture. 

 To start, you'll need 1-2 teaspoons of glue.  A little more for larger glass pieces.  No measuring required; just eyeball it.
Add your favorite food coloring drops or mixture of drops to acquire your desired colored.  I used 2 drops of blue and 1 drop of green to achieve my "turquoise" color.

 Next add about 1/2- 1 teaspoon of water and mix well.  You want the mixture to run but it shouldn't be too watery.  Now here's where I failed.

 Everything I read said to brush the color on the glass.  DON'T brush the coloring on.  It turns out awful and ugly and not good!

So I scratched this project and started over.  I was determined to get my turquoise vases.

 I started over...a few times...and finally figured out the best way to get colored vases.

You need to produce enough of the "paint" mixture to swirl it around the vase on its own.  I used a small paint brush to clean the excess from the bottom but didn't brush the sides.  Just swirl and let the paint cover the glass on it's own.

When the entire glass is covered with "paint" turn it upside down and let it dry.  The drying time take at least a full day so be patient.

The coloring looks thick at first but it will eventually dry clear.  If you flip it over too soon, you'll get drip marks and those don't look good.  Just keep turned upside down until it dries clear.

Ok, so here are my two vases.  The one on the left is the sea glass effect with regular school glue.  The one on the right is mod podge with a clear but colored look.  The difference is very subtle, but I think I prefer the mod podge. 

 Which one do you like?  Can you tell the difference?  By the way, if you wash your colored glass in soap and water, everything comes right off.  That's good news if you want to try out different colors and bad news if you want your colored vases to hold real flowers which require real water.

No water in these vases, but I'm on my way to a Spring mantel finally.  My goal, as always, is to spend very little when it comes to these small decorating projects.  The mantel is one of those small decorating projects so I try to use what I already have.  It's coming along and I'll show you what I've done tomorrow.

Blessings,

Lisa

I link all my projects with some wonderful blogs.  To visit them, go to the {Link Party Love} page found at the top of this page on the {Home} bar.
Also linking to:
Between Naps on the Porch
Savvy Southern Style
No Minimalist Here
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Miss Mustard Seed
Funky Junk Interiors
Coastal Charm 

Common Ground 

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