Mercury Glass Tutorial

Supplies:

• Krylon® Looking Glass® Spray Paint (Yes, you MUST use this exact paint. Click here to see why.)
• Spray Bottle of water (set to a very fine mist)
• Masking tape
• Damp paper towel
• Optional: Dark Brown glaze or acrylic paint and sponge for application
  
• Glass vase, bowl, or plate (Go to your local thrift store and get a couple of cheap pieces to practice on!)

Instructions:

(The basic steps are spray water, spray a thin coat of paint, blot with a damp towel, and then repeat about 3-5 more times.)

1. PREP: Mask around the edge of the glass so that the outside will not get any over spray on it.
2. WATER: Mist water finely on the inside of the vase. Less is more. you don’t want the water beads to become large enough to start dripping down the sides.
3. PAINT: Shake the Krylon® Looking Glass® Spray Paint really well. Spray very lightly on the inside of the glass. By leaving the outside wall of glass clear and thick you get that multidimensional shimmeriness (not sure if that’s a word:)). Keep your coat very light. If the paint starts to run your layer is too thick. Roll the vase around and let it dry upside down for about a minute. (Obviously I’m  spraying a cake plate and not a vase in this picture.)
4. DRY UPSIDE DOWN:In between each coat it’s a good idea to turn the vase and then dry upside down on a rack.
5. BLOT: Take a damp (wrung out) paper towel and wad it up. Carefully put it inside of the glass and press carefully against the paint. You will be lifting the paint away that is setting on top of the water beads. This looks so cool!

TECHNIQUE: This is really the fun part and probably the most stressful part for you perfectionists out there. There are 2 main techniques to remove the paint.

BLOTTING: Blotting just lifts the drops and gives this effect.

PRESS AND TWIST: Pressing on the paper towel and twisting slightly clacks the paint and slide larger chunks of it around. It gives this effect.

You can see the different effect that each technique has. I personally like a combination of both. If you accidentally remove too much of the silver just respray and blot again until you are happy with the results.

5. Continue repeating this process until you achieve the desired transparency. I did about 3-5 coats on the ones in the pictures. Dry on a rack upside down.

*Optional: I LOVE the transparent shimmer of the bright silver, BUT if you want to age your mercury glass a bit, apply a dark brown glaze on the inside of the glass when the silver is all the way dry. Blot it very lightly and gently with a damp sponge or foam brush. Be careful not to disturb the looking glass paint though.

I can’t believe how awesome it turned out. I feel like the little girl on Despicable Me, “It’s so fluffy I could die!” Of course I would replace “fluffy” with “shiny”.

Ok. Time to compare to the real stuff. What do ya think?