FAUX MERCURY GLASS TREE ~ Tutorial

Do you love mercury glass as much as me?  I love its vintage look with its shimmer and bling.

While shopping, I noticed that Pottery Barn has some beautiful mercury glass trees.  However, they are asking $39.50 for a small tree up to $74.50 for a large tree. Sad to say, those prices are not in my budget, so I decided to create my own.   As I told you in my last post, I'm working on a few projects to get ready for the Christmas holidays.

I started out with a glass tree that I found at Goodwill for .99 cents.
I think it originally held candy because it had a plastic lid on the bottom. You can find these quite frequently at thrift stores.

Supplies needed for this project

A jar or glass vase

Krylon Looking Glass Spray Paint

Q-tips

Paper Towels

Spray bottle with water and vinegar in it.

 {Before I began the work on my tree jar, I did a small test run using a baby food jar.  I didn't want to mess up on my tree jar.  I was glad I did a practice jar first.  It helped me to get a feel of working with the paint and how much drying time to allow etc.}

The first thing you'll need to do is to wash  the jar, followed by drying it well.  You don't want any grease or lint left  in the jar.

The next item you'll need is Looking Glass spray paint.  I had a hard time finding it.  I was told it's in such high demand that the manufacturer can't seem to keep up.  I finally found some in our small town True Value store.  I guess I should have checked there first.  I assumed it would be easier to find in the big stores.

 

Taking the looking glass paint, paint the inside of the jar. {You need to paint the revers side of what will be showing).  This was a little tricky, since it was a tree.   The paint is a little runny, but  I found short light bursts of the paint worked best.   Allow the paint to dry for a few minutes, then with a mixture of 1/2 water and 1/2 vinegar (placed in a spray bottle) spray lightly the inside of the jar, spraying  directly over the looking glass paint.  The water/vinegar will bead up.   Allow it to set about one minute, then using a q-tip or paper towel, blot or pop the little vinegar/water bubbles.  You can repeat this process one or two times until you get the look you like.

Then allow the paint to dry completely.  It will look a dull gray color first, but as it dries it becomes a shinny mirror finish.

   

There you have it -  faux mercury glass for a fraction of the real thing!

 I think it looks pretty close to pieces of mercury glass you see in the stores.  What do you think?


                                           Joy
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