This is a guest post by Claire @ A Little Claireification
Today I am so happy to introduce you to my adorable friend Claire. I first “met” Claire over two years ago when she discovered my goofy You Tube videos and became an expert coupon-user, regular blog reader, and frequent commenter. I was lucky enough to meet her in person this past January at the Beech Retreat, and then again at Blissdom, and she is a joy to be around. Be sure to check out all the amazing recipes and thrifty craft projects on her great blog, A Little Claireification.
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Hi there! I’m Claire! I am so tickled to be here at Living Well Spending Less, today. I have followed along with Ruth for over two years now, so this is such a treat! I am also super excited to share this easy DIY Mercury Glass tutorial. Just like Ruth, I too love easy and budget-friendly ideas and this one definitely fits that bill!
There are so many Mercury Glass projects out there all over Pinterest and and I have always wanted to try it myself . I actually cannot believe I waited so long – it’s just really “stupid easy” but… the caveat is this:
WARNING {danger, danger!}:
Making your own mercury glass is HIGHLY addictive! You might just be tempted to transform every piece of clear glass in your house so, please. Proceed with caution. 😉
You’ll need the following things to get started:
- “Looking Glass” mirror-like spray paint by Krylon (this is the most expensive part of the project as a can costs about $10 BUT… if you take a coupon to your favorite craft store, you can most likely get it get it for 40-50% off – yay! I actually had a $5 off coupon for Ace Hardware so that is where I purchased mine.
- White Vinegar
- Water
- A clean spray bottle
- Paper towels or a soft rag for blotting
- Clear glass pieces you want to transform (I am a little obsessive about candles so I already had all sorts of things on hand, but you can also easily thrift some clear glass items for .50-$1.00 each)
First, I looked around the house and rounded up my little glass collection.
You want to make sure the items you will be painting are clean and completely dry {clearly I had to wash these after the picture!}.
In the spray bottle, mix 50% water with 50% white vinegar. I used about 1/4 cup of each and that was plenty.
I started with a mini glass “hurricane” – I have at least 20 of these that I bought years ago and I use them for outside parties. You can find something similar at the dollar store.
Now, if you read the directions on the “Looking Glass” spray, it says to spray the INSIDE of the piece. Well {little, redheaded rebel that I am} I bucked THAT whole system after loads of research online and I decided to apply it on the OUTSIDE. Not only is it more manageable to distress but, hello? I’d also like to actually USE these pieces for flowers or candles, etc.
I placed the glass upside down on some newspapers and got ready to go. You want to do one piece at a time since you have to work fast, so have your vinegar solution and {well shaken} “Looking Glass” spray standing by.
Start by lightly misting the glass all over with the vinegar solution. You want little beads, not a runny mess so this was a little bit of trial and error for me too. Immediately spray a very thin coat of “Looking Glass” spray, lightly coating the outside of the glass.
You can see I did have a few drops that were running on this first attempt, but that’s ok. Each piece is going to look very different which is the cool thing about mercury glass. After one minute, lightly blot the glass with a soft rag or paper towel. You can use a light circular motion – I pressed a little harder in some areas to distress the paint. In some spots it even removes the paint, giving it a very worn or crackly look.
I repeated this process three times – mist with the vinegar, spray with”Looking Glass”, allow to set for 30 seconds to one minute and then distress. Wait a minute or two and repeat. I turned my pieces right side up for the last 1-2 coats to cover the lip of each. You can add as many coats as you would like. I stuck with 3-4 on all of my pieces.
Here’s a look at the Hurricanes before and after. Love.
Next up, a random glass vase that was under my kitchen sink. I could not even tell you where it came from but I know I did not buy it so it must have come with some flowers I received at one point. I used the same method, working quickly to distress between coats.
The possibilities are pretty endless! I also used a glass votive and a jam jar since I have been saving those (repeat after me: “I am not a hoarder, I am a crafter.”) But I AM just a smucker sucker for before and afters:
The glass on the votives already had a pattern so I used the least amount of spray on these. Very “Anthropologie” like! And I still have a little “Looking Glass” spray left after these 4 pieces so now I am keeping an eye out for which thing I want to cover next.
I hope you have a chance to try it out out soon – it really is so easy to do! You can find out a little more about me {& my cheese addiction & crazy obstacle course mud run obsession & more} HERE, so come on over and say hello – I would absolutely love to hear about any mercury glass projects you make, or have already made, too.
Thanks so much again for having me over today, Ruth!!
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Thank you SO much Claire for this awesome tutorial! If you are interested in guest posting at LWSL please email me at ruth@livingwellspendingless.com for guest post guidelines!
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Isn’t that the coolest DiY project ever? I am so excited to try this!! Have you ever made your own mercury glass?
This is really cool! I had no idea you could make your own mercury glass but I really want to give this a try! Thanks for the tutorial Claire. I’ve seen your comments before, but it is nice to “meet” you! 🙂
Thanks Amanda! So nice to “meet” you as well! 🙂
Hey There,
I live in Canada and am not able to find the “Looking Glass” product anywhere. Do you know a Krylon – Looking Glass supplier? Thanks for your help !
Hi Michele, I looked everywhere, even resorted to calling Krylon directly, and for some insane reason, they do not distribute Looking Glass in Canada. The service rep even attempted to send me a sample can, but was unable to do so. 🙁 She did send me a sample of another specialty paint, so that was pretty cool. I ended up begging my sister who was going to the US for a camping trip to scour the stores for me and brought back two cans. Just got them yesterday, so I haven’t had a chance to try out any project yet, but definitely looking forward to it!!
Michael’s suggest using Krylon Colormaster Metallic Silver Spray Paint, $10.99
I’m in Canada also I get mine at Michaels, a great selection
have you ever done a french door window with it , im thinking about doing it. wanted a little bit of privacy in the other room dont really want to use curtains sooooo
Well, here’s my thought on this. I would do a test on a piece of glass and see what you think as far as how much light is coming in and the finish, etc. I’d likely recommend a vinyl frost before this application on a French door because it does lend privacy but lets the light shine through AND…. it’s easily removable. 🙂
Hope that helps! – Claire
I LOVE the way this looks! Definitely making it soon.
Claire! So fun and easy. LOVE the ball jar one!!
Well hi there, pretty lady! Thanks for your sweet comment and looking forward to reading the Ditto DiY series with you and Ruth and the whole gang! Hope you are well! xoxo, Claire
Very pretty. Great job!
wow, this looks amazing! wonder if i could do a gold version…
This seems pretty easy! I might have to try this one day. I love the way the jars look!
Love it! Can’t wait to try. thanks for sharing!
I especially love the smuckers jar!
I have the can of Looking Glass and was wondering if you knew if it could be done on opaque pieces? I have two cream ceramic lamps I wanted to try it on… Was hoping you might know how it would turn out.
Hi, Im looking to make some DIY mercury vases for my wedding so on finding your post i was very happy!! However I live in the UK and can’t seem to find a stockist for Krylon. Have you tried any alternatives?
Amazon, although it is about £20!
Sounds easy and looks great.
I would love to try this, however, I cannot find the Looking Glass anywhere here in Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. Does anyone know where I can purchase it? Thanks for your help!
Michele,
I’m not sure if this is too far for you to travel, but the Ace Hardware at this location is a supplier for Krylon Specialty paints. You might try giving them a call and seeing if they carry the Looking Glass mirror-like paint or if they could order it for you?
QUINCAILLERIE CANTLEY
267 MONTEE DE LA SOURCE
CANTLEY, QC J8V 3L4
819-827-3778
Best of luck!
~ Jenn
I am excited to try this, I love mercury glass.I hope to do a lamp but will practice on dollar store vases. Thank you for your clear directions.
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Love. Love love this stuff. Just finally found it last week and have been experimenting. While I agree that if you want to use your vase afterwards you have to paint it on the outside. You get a much more mirrored finish by painting the inside. Have you tried baking it afterwards? Ya know like those sharpie on ceramic things? 350 for an hour or two. Ill let you know if it works I’m gonna try myself soon. Plus I wanted to see what it looks like on a glossy ceramic surface. So I took 2 old vases and painted one gloss white and one gloss black. Then sprayed the looking glass. The white looks a bit like pewter. Really beautiful but not he look I wanted. The black is much more mirror like. If you try baking it, please let me know how it turns out. Thanx.
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This was so easy! My vase turned out beautiful. I had tried another method and just was not happy with the results. It was just ‘okay’. I wanted a ‘WOW’. This method gave me that ‘WOW’. Thank you so much for sharing. I cannot get enough mercury glass. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!!!
I love this – thank you for taking the time to explain it so well. I was wondering if it had to be done on glass. I want to do a frame with the mercury glass look.
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Hello,
Can you tell if this technique can be used on a light pendant? Once the paint is dry can ( on the outside ) can a 60 watt bulb be too hot and melt the paint?
Please advise and Thank you!
H, is there a danger with burning a candle in a finished product because of the spray paint? Also, is this harmful for fresh flowers?
Any idea how I might create fas mercury glass finishes in blues or greens; the Krylon Mirror-like spray is offered in only one finish.
excuse the misspelling — it’s ‘faux’ mercury glass finishes I’m after!
After thinking a moment, would tints of a colored glass come through a light coating or two of mirror-glass spray?
Wonder if you can do a glass top coffee table. I think that would. Be pretty.
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Thanks so much for this tutorial! I’ve just done one vase so far because it’s to dang hot here in Texas to do more! It really turned out great, thanks! My daughter and I found some pretty mercury glass votive vases but they were too expensive for how many we needed for her wedding. But now I can do some dollar store finds for a whole lot cheaper! Thanks again!
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Absolutely love this!
You were first on Google when I went looking for directions on how to the mercury glass (Congratulations!).
I see antique pieces all the time (usually because I never go into a store that sells new items, lol), and see very old mirrors that have the chippy, mercury look just because of the age. I love this as it really authenticates the age of an item.
My question is if you have ever tried to add in any black paint or something that would come out looking like an old mirror looks when it has made the rounds for 100+ years. I love this look too. Do you have any suggestions or have you tried to replicate this at all? I thought I would ask before I go to the trial and error — thus using your expertise before I paint everything I own! I do absolutely love this looks. I would love to give my bathroom mirror a worn look (maybe leaving a huge area in the center . . . ) but keeping enough — giving it a look to match the rest of the room I have worked to make look old!
Thanks you!
Sherrie – Houston
I am wanting to try this. If you do the finish on the outside, does it come off easily with use?
What a great post!! I am trying this in a few minutes on an old lamp I just got at a yard sale!! I am also going to spray the outside, as the glass is not perfectly clear, so the mercury glass look will show up much better on the outside!
Well, I followed your directions but had a less than satisfactory result. Then, I read the directions on the Krylon panel and it explained that the reason they instruct you to spray the Inside of the vase is that the mirror effect of the paint only shows on the outside of the surface that you paint. My 3 vases all looked very flat and boring…no shine at all like my other mercury glass. So, I would not follow your instructions again…and I wasted $25 on the spray paint and messed up 3 of my nice glass vases 🙁
There is a program on the GAC channel where two teams do three makeover projects using items from a flea market. one team made a folding screen using three long windows with aged wood frames. They used a faux mercury glass finish on the windows. It was beautiful. However, they did not tell the process. So I’ve looking for this information for a while. Can you wash the glass by hand?
I am loving the idea of making my own mercury glass vases. Is it possible to just have the mercury be shiny and not antigued? If so; how? Thank you in advance for any help you can offer, Deborah of Westford, Massachusetts
i am doing a cabinet with glass doors do i do the end side or outside of the glass
You might want to try and do the outside of the glass since that is how the tutorial is done. 🙂
I’d like to do “gold” mercury glass. How would I go about achieving this finish?
Thank you in advance for any information you provide!
Cynthia from Ohio
I have tried spraying the inside and outside depending on the piece I’m doing. I have a few I haven’t started yet, but I think I’ll do the outside. It would definitely be easier. I’m using a sealer on the ones I do on the outside.
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Can this technique be used on ceramic? Does it have to be clear glass?
Can you then use water in the vases after doing this? Or is it for dry use only?
Yes, you can use them with water. 🙂
I am surprised that no one has asked you how to keep the paint from washing off. I sprayed a vase three times. Dried for 4 hours. Tested under water and paint washed off. How to you keep the silver paint on so the customer can wash the vase????
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Can you do this on something than glass
Denise, It depends some spray paint doesn’t adhere well to plastic, if that is what you are asking. Just be sure to check the bottle first before you buy. 🙂