DIY Painting Tips and Tricks – Terracotta Plant Pots, Glass Bottles, Mason Jars etc.

Transform Plain Terracotta Plant Pots, Glass Bottles, Vases, Wine Glasses, Mason Jars and Ceramic Mugs into Works of Art

DIY Painting Tips and Tricks: Do you ever feel like your home needs a bit of a lift? It is the perfect way to bring some life into your home and it doesn’t have to take hours or cost a lot of money. All you need are some paints such as chalk paint, glass paint, some nail polish, acrylic paint or marble paint and accessories, and you can transform everyday items into eye-catching decorations. Glass bottles, Mason Jars, Wine Glasses and terracotta Plant Pots can be decorated easily to add a bright and vibrant touch to your home. Not only is DIY painting creative and fun, but it’s also a great way to show off your personality and add a unique touch to your home. So grab suitable paints and get ready to give your home a fabulous new look.

Why not make Mom a different Mother’s Day present with a personal touch?

Take a look at our other blogs for lots of different ideas.

Basic Materials you May Need for some of these DIY Projects

The materials you will need will depend upon the project you choose.

• Get a table ready with a plastic cloth over it to protect the table.
• A glass bottle, mason jar, wine glass and/or terracotta plant pot or ceramic mugs.
• Rubbing Alcohol.
• Different size paint brushes.
• Sponges – spouncers/daubers are perfect for this project to prevent paint streaking.
• Paint – choose the type of paint to use according to your project.
• Choose the paint colours you are going to use.
• A glass of water to clean your brushes. Dry the brushes off with a paper towel before applying more paint.
• Painter’s Tape
• Stencils
• Stampers

The YouTube Videos usually will list the tools and materials you need for the particular technique.

General Tips For Glass Painting

This DIY glass painting project is a decorative project. Glass is not porous and therefore if you try to wash your project after painting it with Acrylic Paints, the paint, if not primed first, will likely wash off. Use a Sealer like Mod Podge once your project is dry.

For glass vases, mason jars, bottles, wine glasses or any other glass, after you’ve washed and dried the glass thoroughly and wiped the glass with rubbing alcohol to remove marks and smudges of fingerprints, you’ll need a primer.

You can use chalk paint on its own as paint to decorate your project or as a primer for acrylic decorations. Don’t forget to let the chalk paint dry completely before applying the second coat and then before decorating with acrylic paint. For the second application of the chalk paint, to cover streaks of paint which may be left by the paintbrush on the first application, dip a sponge dauber/spouncer into the next colour chalk paint and apply a second coat. Once completely dry, apply your decorative paint.

Remember these projects are for decorative purposes only.

Creative Ideas to Paint and Decorate Glass Vases, Wine Glasses, Bottles and Mason Jars

Painting Glass Vases, Wine Glasses, Glass Bottles of all shapes and sizes and Mason Jars (upcycled bottles and jars are perfect too) is a great way to add a unique touch to your home.

When you’re ready to commence your project, make sure to wash the glass you are painting or decorating and dry it properly. Then wipe it with rubbing alcohol as mentioned above.

Use the first chalk paint colour and paint the entire bottle. Let it dry completely. Then use the next chalk paint colour for the second application and let it dry completely.

Paint Brushes: Use a suitable brush for the first application of chalk paint and if the paint looks streaky, once dry, use a spouncer/dauber for the second coat of paint. This gives it more texture as well.

Once the second coat of chalk paint is completely dry, you can use suitable small paint brushes and Acrylic paint to decorate the glass freehand or otherwise, use a stencil of your choice and a spouncer/dauber to create your designs. You can decorate the glass by drawing a few small colourful flowers. Another idea is to use a small stamper and then paint the design.

Another idea is to trace your design onto a piece of paper. Then take the paper design you have traced and tape it to the inside of the glass bottle. Now you can outline the design which you can see through the glass and paint it with whatever paint you choose to use. When the paint is dry, remove the paper from inside the bottle.

See the various YouTube Videos in this blog to assist you with ideas.

Rainbow Glass Bottle Painting on a Glass Bottle

Wine Glasses Marbled with Nail Polish

Glass Bottle Decorating with Paint and Tin Foil

See YouTube Video below:

Painting Bottles with Enamel Paint

Enamel Paint adheres better to glass than Acrylic Paint.

Glass Pouring on Vases, Bottles, Jars

This is an easy way to decorate glass bottles. You will need a couple of hours to do a good job. Follow the instructions on the YouTube Videos below. There is also a YouTube Video explaining the addition of a medium to thin your acrylic paints so that the consistency is right for pouring. Don’t waste the paint that drips off when pouring. Keep a canvas underneath the glass vase, bottle or jar. It is all explained on the YouTube Video where a turner is used. Remember it is for decorative purposes only. They are so pretty they will make a wonderful gift for a loved one, friend, teacher or anyone you want to give a gift to.

Suggestion:  Use ready-to-use pouring paint on your first glass bottle. Mixing paint with a medium, unless you are experienced, takes practice. That said, you may get it right the first time!

How to Decorate with Glass Beads on Glass – Lanterns

How About Painting and Decorating Ceramic Mugs

If you don’t want to paint the mugs, you could use the Nail polish technique. This is for decorative mugs. There are endless possibilities when you get creative.

See the YouTube Video below. It demonstrates how to use Ceramic Paints.

Painting and Decorating Terracotta Plant Pots

Terracotta plant pots are a great way to add a touch of nature to your home. To give them a unique and textured look, try painting and/or sponging the paint onto the pot with white or any other colour chalk paint, and once completely dry, decorate them with stencils or stampers or a freehand design, using colourful Acrylic Paints of your choice. Once the paint is completely dry, you can seal and protect artwork with Mod Podge Sealer.

What You’ll Need to Start Your Project

• Put a plastic cloth on the table you are using to protect it from paint, water, etc..
• Choose the Paints you want to use – Chalk and/or Acrylic, Marble, etc..
• A palette or wax paper to pour the paint onto.
• A glass of water.
• Suitable paintbrushes.
• Spouncers or Daubers.
• Wear gloves if you don’t want to get paint on your hands.
• Nail polish if you try a new technique.
• If using Nail polish, have a Plastic Container deep enough to dip your Terracotta Plant Pot into handy.
• Mod Podge to seal your artwork.
• Painter’s Tape, Stencils, Stampers.

Decorating with Marble Paints

Marble paints are a great way to add a unique touch to your home. From glass bottles to terracotta plant pots, you can easily add a bright and vibrant touch to almost any item in your home. This technique is easy and creates a very different look to terracotta plants and any porous surface. It works on glass as well but as mentioned, glass is not a porous surface. The method is the same as the Nail polish marble decorating.

Marble paints are a bit more expensive than using the similar Nail Polish method below. If you decide to go with Marble Paints, a craft shop such as Michaels should have some for you.

Nail Polish

If you’re looking to transform everyday items into something special and marble paint is not within your budget, why not try out a similar technique using a few bottles of different colour nail polish to dip the pot into? It is really fun and transforms your plant pot into a work of art. Wear gloves if you don’t want to get paint on your hands.

The YouTube Videos below will show you exactly how to use this technique.

Ideas for Using Nail Polish (instead of Marble Paints) to Transform Everyday Objects into Pretty Display Items

Nail polish is a great way to give everyday items a unique and stylish look. From glass bottles to terracotta plant pots, you can easily transform ordinary items into eye-catching displays. To decorate a glass item, wash it with soapy water. Dry it properly. Then wipe the glass bottle with rubbing alcohol.

Next, choose the nail polish colours you want to use for your project. You can either use two colours of nail polish such as neon pink and white or multiple colors for an interesting effect.

• Suggestion: If you want to practise, use a small terracotta plant pot for your first project. Once you feel more confident, try the technique on a small glass item such as a mason jar.
• It is not necessary to use expensive nail polish to practise with. Buy a few bottles of reasonably priced nail polish on sale at the drug store. If you have nail polish you don’t use, then use it.

See the YouTube Videos below.

For the above YouTube Video, if you are not experienced at painting, I recommend you use a flower stenncil or some stampers and then paint the flowers.

See the above YouTube Video. This appears to be an easy technique. If you like the look of the pots, why not give it a try.

Suncatchers

While you are decorating glass and plant pots, the kids may want to paint a Suncatcher for fun. See the Easter YouTube Video below.

As you can see from the above techniques, DIY painting is a great way to add a unique style to your home. All you need are the right supplies and a little bit of creativity and you can give your home a fabulous new look without spending a lot of time or money. Most importantly it’ll give you the time to relax and enjoy.

We hope you enjoy whatever technique you decide to try.