DIY - Milkglass Apothecary Jars

I love decorating for the holidays as much as the next gal, so I was extremely excited about the possibilities of clear, glass apothecary jars.  Acorns for Fall, ornaments for Christmas, eggs for Easter.  Unfortuntately, filling these little beauties quickly became more of a chore than a joy.

Enter Pinterest.  I stumbled across a great tutuorial for spray painting glass.  Yep.  I said spray paint.  I know, I know.  I had my doubts too, but it  turned out awesome!  Now, I have a set of jars that look like expensive milkglass and they only cost $5 for paint.

Give it a try!  Do you have glass pieces lying around that need a makeover?  If so, here's what you need:

• glass pieces
• plastic grocery bags
• masking tape
• white high gloss spray paint (I used Valspar, but any brand should work)
• a drop cloth of some sort

First, clean out your jars.  Next, wrap the outsides of each jar and lid with grocery bags and tape them off so paint won't leak onto the outside.  Patience friends!  This part took the longest.  I recommend tearing off several long strips of tape and sticking them on the edge of the counter to streamline the process.

Next, layout your drop cloth outside.  Fumes from spray paint are terrible, so please, get some fresh air!  Start with the lids and evenly spray a thin layer of paint inside.  You will have to swirl the lid slightly to get the paint to coat all the nooks and cranies.  My jars happen to have little stems and needed lots of swirling!

Do the same thing for the jars and then let them all dry.  You may need to add another coat of paint if the first didn't cover to your liking.  I did mine in 1 coat, but you never know!

Voila!  You are a glassmaker, sorta.  But, you are crafty and you just scored a great look for next to nada.  Now fashion that Valentine's Mantel and enjoy your handiwork! 

(Psst.  My hubs said he thought it looked like a professional did it!  Ha! If he only knew the shananigans I get myself into while he's at work .  Oh.  I guess now he does...) 

To see how I made the heart wreath, click here.