DIY: Decorated Vases, Jars, Etc..

It is unfortunate that while we’re getting warmer weather here in NJ, I’m developing a bit of a cold.  I started with the sniffles Monday, but Tuesday it was a full-fledged cold and even now I’m not feeling much better.  Unfortunately since I get paid per diem I’ve had to go to work each day even though I’d rather be in bed all day.  It is a good thing then that I finished my wall art décor this past weekend and another fun DIY to match my wall art since I haven’t accomplished much of anything this week.

This DIY idea was something I came across while seeing what was on sale at Michaels this past weekend.  I saw a link to a Martha Stewart project.  This cute vase was something that looked simple enough to do and required many of the same products that I was already purchasing for the wall art.  My intention was to only buy one vase, but at only $2.50 a piece I decided a second vase and a jar would be a good addition to my purchase.

In the end I purchased the following (Items from my wall art decor project are also in this image):

-2 Vases

-1 Jar

-Paint (same paints I used for my last project)

-Quilters and Electrical tape (1/4” and ¾” respectively) *Side Note: I wanted to purchase painters tape but could not find it in ¼” length

-Same sponge brushes as my wall art project just cleaned and dried from previous use

-Fake daisies (Especially since the vase I was going to put them in was going in our bathroom which gets no sunlight during the day, fake seemed the way to go)

First things first, make sure to wash and clean the vases and jar with soap and let them dry thoroughly.  My acrylic paint also said to wash the glass with alcohol, but I skipped this step (it probably would've helped a bit more as I was removing the tape because some of the paint started to come up with the tape).  

As with my wall art project, this requires you to tape the glass up before you paint.  I recommend you really think about what design you want on the item you are painting.  The more you criss-cross the tape on the glass, the tougher it can be for clean lines to appear on the glass.  That being said don't be afraid to experiment with different designs!

My recommendation is that if you are doing a couple of pieces like I did, that you only work with items that are using the same color at the same time.  Working with too much paint can cause accidents when painting and also requires fewer paint brushes and palates to work with.

I did three layers for all of the colors I used in order to make them totally opaque (the red I almost considered a fourth layer, but when the paint dried after the third I was happy with how it looked).  I let the paint dry until it was dry to touch before taking the tape off.  I only had a few problems where  the paint tried to come up with the tape, mostly with the tiny stripes that I made. 

What I love about these is that they now match other things that are in the same room without being overly matching.  I put the fake daises in the vase meant for the bathroom and I will fill the jar with ear cleaners when I get a chance.  As for the red vase for our living room, I put our tv remotes in it so we don't have to worry about searching for them anymore.

I absolutely love how these turned out!  If you try this yourself please leave a comment with pictures of your work!!