Faux “Mercury Glass” with Craft Paints

You know, those trend setters or style makers or whoever really keep a DIY gal on her toes.

First they come out with beautiful silver mercury glass.

It’s everywhere.

It’s gorgeous.

And then, of course, it’s only a matter of time before someone figures out a way to DIY silver mercury glass.

You’ve seen all of the blog posts, haven’t you? They use a special spray paint that must be sprayed on the inside of the glass after you spray on a mixture of water and vinegar.

Looked simple enough. So I tried it. ahem.

Don’t bother searching this blog for silver mercury glass because you won’t find it.

Anyway, this year – as if all of the silver gorgeousness wasn’t enough – now there is mercury glass in colors.

Colors!?!

Red, green, blue, purple, and – oh yes – gold.

It was just too much for this DIYer. I had to try and mimic the look.

Had to, I tell ya.

And I’ll be the first to tell you that while this isn’t an exact replica of mercury glass . . .

it’s pretty close.

And it’s pretty.

Which is the main thing. Right?

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How To Create Faux “Mercury Glass”

Supply List

• glass vessel – vase, votive, jar, or anything else you have on hand
• rubbing alcohol and cotton balls
• *FolkArt Metallic Enamel paint in your choice of color
• *make up sponge
• *sea sponge

*affiliate links

Step 1 – Clean the outside of the glass with cotton balls and rubbing alcohol and let dry.

Step 2 – Moisten the sea sponge only.

Keep the makeup sponge dry to avoid excessive air bubbles.

You’ll want the sea sponge only slightly damp, not wet.

Step 3 – Apply a light layer of metallic paint to the outside of the glass with the make up sponge.

Unlike the faux mercury glass method using spray paint, applying paint to the outside of the glass allows you to decorate all kinds of glass items.

Step 4 – Lightly go over painted area with damp sea sponge.

The sea sponge will remove tiny little areas of paint. How hard you apply the sponge, or if you twist it a bit, will determine the size.

You can remove a little or a lot. It’s totally up to you.

You’ll want to periodically dampen the sea sponge to keep it soft. Use a paper towel to absorb excess moisture.

After two layers of applying paint and then removing a little, you’ll start to see various textures building up. It’s totally up to you how many layers to paint.

On these pieces I painted three layers, sponging off a little for each layer.

If you have to take a break, you can pop your make up sponge in a plastic baggy. If you throw it in water, there’s a chance of air bubbles if it’s not completely dry.

 

Don’t forget to paint the bottoms too!

 

Actual mercury glass is double-walled so the outer layer has a smooth, shiny surface.

This method won’t give you that.

Just so you know.

But until the spray paint companies come up with different colors of reverse shiny stuff . . . this comes pretty darn close.

Stay tuned.

There’s a fairly good chance that I might happen to be going to the craft store today.

And I might happen to pick up some metallic enamels in other colors.

Possibly.

p.s. I didn’t use Enamels for this project, just regular metallic paint. It still worked great and held up nicely after curing. But I’d recommend Enamels for painting glass since they’re made for that.

Colleen

about Colleen

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