DIY Mercury Glass Pumpkin (how to turn any glass into mercury glass) – 31 Days of Fall Inspiration

This post is part of a series – “31 days of Fall Inspiration”  You can read all the posts in this series here.  And to make sure you don’t miss anything you can sign up to have every post sent to your emailor follow me on facebook.

I don’t know about you but I LOVE mercury glass!  Mercury glass vases, mercury glass candle holders, mercury glass owls or pumpkins… colored mercury glass – any and ALL of it.  But I what I don’t love is the price.  $50-60 for mercury glass pumpkins… no thanks!  I am the ‘”frugal” homemaker after all.

So when I saw that Rust-Oleum was coming out with a brand new spray paint called Rust-Oleum Mirror Effect, I was excited.  I love Rust-Oleum products and knew this was going to be good.

I got to see a preview of it at Haven Conference in August before it even hit shelves.  You all loved the vases created with it that I shared on facebook.

So when I found this glass pumpkin candy dish at a thrift store for $1 a week later, I knew EXACTLY what I would do with it!

 By the way, if any of you are wanting to pick up the same glass pumpkin and don’t find one at a thrift store, Walmart has the same glass pumpkin and apples as well.   

The way this spray paint works is you have to spray the opposite side that you want the mercury glass look to appear on.  So you will want to spray the inside of the vase, pumpkin, candle holder or whatever you are turning into mercury glass.

I taped off the outside so I wouldn’t get overspray on it.

And then lightly misted the inside with water.  LIGHTLY mist it.

Then while it is still wet – spray with the spray paint.    Follow the directions on the spray paint can – make sure to shake vigorously for at least a minute before use.

It will turn to a mirror finish within a minute.

Here’s what the inside of the pumpkin part looks like.

I let mine dry for about an hour or so.  If you want a darker/less transparent finish you may want to do a second coat.  I like my mercury glass to be pretty splotchy looking.

So I rubbed the inside of the pumpkin with a wet paper towel very gently to remove some more paint.  And this is what I was left with – LOVE!

Here’s some tips for you.  This paint CAN and will scratch off if used in a vase where flower stems will be scratching it, etc.  To prevent that once the paint is dry, protect it with 1-2 coats of a clear protectant like Rust-Oleum Ultra Cover 2X Matte Clear.

I could use it anywhere – but for now I have it on my coffee table serving as a pretty, disguised candy dish!   The owl is “storebought” mercury glass – can you tell a difference?

$1 pumpkin +  less than $10 can of spray paint that you won’t use very much of at all = frugal mercury glass… my FAVORITE!

Now for the fun part!  Would you like to make some frugal DIY mercury glass?  A pumpkin, vase, candle holder glass shelf, Christmas ornament, fix a mirror, etc?  Great news… because one of you is going to win a CASE (6 cans) of Rust-Oleum Mirror Effect spray paint.  Use some to create some of your own projects and maybe share a few cans or give a glass item and a can to a friend that loves to DIY (great Christmas present idea!).  I would totally love to get spray paint in MY stocking!  

Enter to win in the rafflecopter widget below (if reading by email, click over to the post to enter.)  Winner will be announced next Wednesday.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Linking this post up with Nester for her annual 31 days series in October.  I have several other blog friends that are joining me writing for 31 days too – check out their blogs and topics by clicking on the buttons below.

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