Thanks to Amanda over at the almighty
VintageGlam citing my
mercury glass project, I seem to have a number of new visitors here at my humble wedding-blog-abode. Thanks, Amanda! Naturally, I've received a number of
Krylon Looking Glass inquiries as well. So, instead of continuing to reply one by one, I've decided to revisit my (ill-fated) DIY project in hopes to save the next DIY bride (or beginning-level crafter) from failure. Yes, I'll admit it: I failed. And yes, it's completely depressing. But, really, I'd rather see you succeed in DIYing your mercury glass, than to have failed in vain (a "
craft and pass it on" of sorts)...
My first mistake: not enough time. I had a self-imposed deadline for all of my DIY projects so I wouldn't find myself awake at 3am - the morning of my wedding day, (you shake your head in disbelief, but I KNOW it's happened...). As a result, about a quarter of my projects were thrown overboard on various dates before our wedding, including my beloved
mercury glass votives and cylinder vases (imagine all of
these votives and pillar candles flickering in worn, seemingly-vintage, mercury glass, oh if only).
My second mistake: not enough stock. I ruined
well over half of my cylinder vases and votives before I finally got the hang of it. Some of them came out badly streaked, while others looked like cloudy spray painted tin cans. It was bad... To safeguard against this, perhaps you could purchase some super cheap (like .39 votives) to practice on…
Here's the secret:
short bursts. Spray one coat of Looking Glass very lightly and in short bursts
on the inside of the cylinder vases or votives, while making sure to continuously turn the object while spraying, allow to dry, then repeat until you achieve the desired look. (Believe me when I say, you need a lot of time to complete this project - think of the drying time alone.) You might also want to speckle your cylinder vases with
metallic leaf, or even shoot a few bursts of randomly sprayed gold-ish spray paint, before applying Looking Glass to create an even more worn effect. Below are a couple of crafty examples via
Krylon.
Alternatively, this look (below) might be achieved via
Chef Fifi's approach: using silver, gold or copper leaf (see last photo for her DIY apothecary lid). You might be able to section off a lace pattern with
this Etsy seller's lace tape, wrapping the tape
on the inside of the cylinder vase and using the tape as a stencil. You would then use Looking Glass as instructed previously, but making sure to remove the tape before the paint dries completely. Then apply metallic leaf on the inside
of the cylinder vase, making sure to leave some surface area uncovered, so to highlight the lace pattern. Worth a try, at least.
Hope all of this information helps. Happy crafting!
Photo credits: Krylon, Krylon, Apartment Therapy, Brooker Pie, Chez Fifi
photo credits: Creative Odds 'n Ends, HWTM, Martha's Eyelet Collection via Redbook, Lee and Hamilton Blog, Lee and Hamilton Blog, Martha's Eyelet Collection via Redbook
(Disclaimer: Please excuse the quality of the next photo. We haven't yet had our final photography meeting, and therefore, have not received the final color corrected images.)
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