DIY Mercury Glass

Do you love the look of mercury glass?   Me too!

Do you love the price tag on mercury glass?  Me double-too.

So when Rust-Oleum® Canada offered to send me the supplies to create my own DIY mercury glass, I jumped at the chance – I mean, if this worked out I could save MILLIONS (or at least a hundred or two) and still outfit my Holiday decor with some shiny goodness.

I received a detailed tutorial by Leigh-Ann Allaire Perrault, who partnered with Rust-Oleum® Canada to showcase their Mirror Effect spray.

DIY Mercury Glass:

• clear glass vases, dishes or trays
• drop cloth
• lint-free rag
• Krud Kutter® Concentrated Cleaner
• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 1/3 cup water
• spray bottle with mist setting
• Rust-Oleum Mirror Effect spray in silver or gold
• Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch Ultra cover 2X clear spray in gloss

Christine and I took on the challenge together, and between us we had a dozen pieces of glassware from both the dollar store and a nearby thrift store.

We washed everything by spraying it with Rust-Oleum Krud Kutter® Concentrated Cleaner, giving it a wipe and a rinse and then drying it with a lint-free rag.  The Krud Cutter® was impressive by itself – removing that gummy sticker residue and dried-on paint with just a single wipe – and still leaving all of the glassware totally streak-free.

Mix your water and vinegar together in a spray bottle and test to make sure you have it at a mist setting.

In a well-ventilated area, set out your drop cloth and your cleaned and dried glassware.

Christine and I sort of did a trial-and-error process to see which finish we liked the best.

Leigh-Ann Allaire Perrault’s tutorial tells you to spray the outside of your vases and votives with the Mirror Effect spray… we found that doing it that way didn’t quite have the shine that we were looking for.

You can see below, our DIY mercury glass bowls in the front row have been sprayed on the outside and appear a bit more matte – still nice, but we were looking for shine.

For the DIY mercury glass vase and glasses-turned-votives, we sprayed the Mirror Effect on the inside.

Whichever finish you choose, the process is lightly spray your surface with the Mirror Effect spray, and then mist the finish with your vinegar/water solution.  Use lots of the vinegar solution for more water drops, and less for fewer – I did end up with water streaks on one of my votives, so start light and work from there.

Another technique that Christine and I both agreed on was layering two colours of Mirror Effect spray;

above you will see that I first sprayed my DIY mercury glass votive with the silver Mirror Effect spray paint, spritzed with water and then sprayed it again with the gold.  The water-vinegar solution creates openings in the silver to allow the gold paint to shine through.  Cool eh!?

If you want more gold with silver flecks shining through, spray your gold first, then the vinegar solution, then the silver.  Remember that the last colour sprayed will be the peek-a-boo colour.

Let your DIY mercury glass dry completely (about an hour), carefully dab off any remaining water drops – DON’T RUB – and then spray your dish with a coat of Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch clear spray paint in gloss (or matte) to protect the mercury glass finish.  Add additional coats once dry to achieve your desired glossiness or matte-ness.

Christine wasn’t sure about her bowl – she thought it was perhaps too light:

I think it’s absolutely spectacular!  You would never know that this is a spray-paint finish would you?  You’d REALLY never know that it was DIY mercury glass.

The only way to test out votives is to light-em-up, up up…

Fan-damn-tastic!

(Worst case, use your Krud Kutter to start again!)

Those are dollar store stemless wine glasses / drinking glasses!

I glued a small jar to the bottom of one of my bowls (in photo 2) to create a tiered display – right now housing flowers, but later I’ll fill them both with nuts and Holiday treats.

All tolled we finished with 4 ring dishes, 2 stemless wineglass votives, one vase candle holder, one large bowl, one candy dish (not pictured), one taper-candle holder (not pictured) and the two dishes currently holding flowers – that’s a dozen pieces of DIY mercury glass.

If I were to guesstimate, I’d say our total came in at about $20 in glassware, $15 in Mirror Effect spray (which I received free to test) and $10 for clear gloss finish spray paint.  That’s $3.75 per piece of mercury glass  – and we still have half a can of gold left.

If I were to guesstimate the value from say Wayfair.ca, it would come in around $317+ Cdn!  (candle stick holder $31, large votives $32 ea, large vase $49, bowl $143, ring tray $30 ea – and the rest I couldn’t find).  Well over $26.41 per piece!  That’s a 700% difference!

Shark Tank, you may see me coming soon with this faux-mercury glass business – Kevin would LOVE those margins!

Have a great one!

 

This post is sponsored by Rust-Oleum® Canada. I was provided with Rust-Oleum® product to help spread the word about Mirror Effect and Krud Kutter®. 100Things2Do.ca only shares information I feel is relevant to my readers. All opinions expressed are sincere and my own. Rust-Oleum® Canada is not responsible for the dialogue of this article.

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