Crafty Project: Mercury Rising Glass Awesomeness

How many times do you go Target, Homes Goods or any other store selling cool decorative vases and glass vessels and think “How cool is that?!” Well now become a master at recreating those one-of-a-kind items. This one is Super Easy, Super Quick and Super Decorative. Your friends will be asking in no time “Where did you get that?” This craft comes to you courtesy of DIY Magazine Spring 2012.


Materials:

Clear Glass Vessel. You can find one at any craft store or other retail location selling such items.

Spray/Spritz bottle

Krylon Looking Glass Spray Paint. This may need to be ordered but Krylon also makes Metallic Sprays and try one of those for fun!

Get Your Craft On!

1. Clean your glass vessel

2. Spritz the inside of your vessel with water. It should bead up and run out of the vessel but not a waterfall full.

3. While the water is wet spray the inside of the vessel with the Looking Glass or Metallic spray paint. Spray 1 coat and let dry before applying another coat of spray paint.

4. Once vessel is dry you are Finished! Place it where it will Sparkle in the sunlight and Enjoy.

I do not recommend filling this with water and using it as a vase since the paint will start to come off. You can spray the inside with a protective coating but in the long run I urge you against it. If you want to use it as a vase place a small container inside that will hold water without damaging your lovely piece.



Happy Craftin! And See You Next Time

Spray Paint Test! RustOleum vs. Valspar Review

To Spray or Not to Spray...Either way I am not buying Valspar

I LOVE Spray Paint! It's easy to use and can take any item from drab to FAB in no time.  I recently had 3 wood dinning room chairs I was making over and needed them quickly done on time for the Lucketts Spring Market this past weekend.  Out of convenience I went to my closest hardware store to pick up some fun colors.  The brand they sold was Valspar.  I have never used this brand before but I though "Hey paint is paint, right"  I was SO wrong! First it had a rounded top that prevented me from using my spray paint attachment that turns it into a handy dandy spray gun.  I found the spray nozzle producing less over time and required me to use 2 thumbs inorder to get the paint out.  The twist and lock feature of the top created problems by paint hitting the sides of the outer cap creating splatters of paint that globbed up on my smooth surface I was trying to achieve.  The paint coverage was weak and required many layers upon layers and when a few minutes of drying time is needed in between applications your project goes from quick and easy to long and frustrating.  Luckily I had a can of RustOleum in my arsenal and felt a sense of joy and relief come over me.  RustOleum has a normal spray paint nozzle that allowed me to use my handy dandy attachment.  There is a more steady stream of paint produced and had a wonderful solid coverage that hid gaps and cracks like magic.  One thing that amazed me was the difference in what is considered a Glossy finish.  Once again RustOleum wins! Valspar left a rough texture and I had to double check I actually bought Glossy.  I was painting each chair white with different colored rungs.  I sprayed the rungs their chosen color and when it dried I wrapped them in paper and painters tape and sprayed the rest of the chair white.  I allowed the white to dry over night before peeling off the paper.  Oh no! The Paper stuck to the chairs where I used Valspar.  Needless to say this was a major disappointment and made a note to no longer buy Valspar spray paint. In the future I will go out of my way to visit the orange apron hardware store (you know who you are ;)) and buy RustOleum. Plus they have better colors anyway.  I hope my Spray Paint experience will help you in deciding the right paint.

Product Review: Gloss Pearl Mist Metallic Paint and Primer in 1

I love to peruse the spray paint aisle at my local hardware store.  I found that Rust-Oleum has come out with a line of hammered metal spray paints to give the appearance of metal without it actually being metal.  I found one in particular to be something different than the norm.  It’s the Gloss Pearl Mist Metallic Paint and Primer in 1.  It gives a wonderful sparkle to your project without it looking like you spray glitter all over it.  It’s just the right amount of shine.  Now it says it’s a “Primer” but don’t rely on it like your typical primer.  It doesn’t give you a solid coating instead it’s rather see through.  I suggest applying your favorite primer before using this product.  If you want a thick coat you will need to apply several coats but be careful because the product is runny if you apply too much at one time.  The other downfall I found is it doesn’t sand well.  I made the mistake of getting spray crazy and it started to run and drip.  I let it dry overnight and decided I would sand that down and try again.  That plan did not work.  While it did sand it was sticky and took on a bit of a brown color.  Luckily I stenciling was using a darker color on top in some places and decided that would be one place I would cover up.  It gives a great sparkle….just make sure you primed well.   

Grade:

Color: A

User Friendly: B  

Would I use it again? Yes

Happy Crafty Wednesday!

Colorful Lace Glass Plates

Our project today comes from “The Big Ass Book of Crafts.” It’s one of my favorite craft books with over 150 super funny things to make.

Materials:
Clear glass plates, any size
1 yard of nylon athletic fabric or polyester lace to use as a stencil
Krylon Spray Adhesive
Several different colors of spray paint (at least 2 colors), Krylon is suggested for this project because of the deep, rich and bright colors
Krylon Acrylic Crystal Clear

1. Wash plates and dry
2. Cut out a piece of the athletic fabric or lace big enough to cover the back of the plate
3. Place the plate facedown on some newspaper, and secure the fabric to the plate with the Krylon Spray Adhesive
4. Spray your first color over the fabric. Make sure you hit every spot.
5. Give the paint about 5 minutes to dry a bit, and then remove the fabric by carefully peeling it off the back of the plate. You will be left with a relief design of the fabric. The Spray Adhesive takes awhile to dry you will be able to pull it off the plate. In the stencil section of your local craft store there is a repositionable stencil spray adhesive.
6. After the paint dries completely, give it 15-30 minutes, spray it with a second color of paint and let it dry
7. When the second color is dry, coat the back of the plate with the Krylon Acrylic Crystal Clear
8. Spray 2 more coats of the Krylon Acrylic Crystal Clear, letting it dry between coats. See spray can directions for recommended drying time.

Hand wash these plates carefully. I recommend buying plate hangers and display them on your wall.

Happy Crafting :)