Faux Sea Glass Lanterns

 Do you have an old mason jars or glass vases laying around collecting dust?  Well, if you do I have a fun and easy trick to upcycle and make them into fun indoor or outdoor summer lanterns.  Oh boy, these were FUN and EASY! 

MATERIALS:

STEPS:


Step 1: Clean the mason jar thoroughly inside and out, and make sure it is bone dry.

Step 2: Make sure your brush is clean of any other paint residue, or use a brand new brush.

Step 3: Choose which color you would like your sea glass to be.  You can mix primary colors to make secondary colors, or just experiment with lighter or darker shades by adding more or less food coloring : glue mixture.

step 4: use a disposable bowl (I used foil baking cups) to mix your glue mixture. Add glue to your bowl and mix the color of your choice.  Since the glue is white, the mixture will seam opaque but it will dry clearish leaving the sea glass effect.

step 5:  paint the mixture ON THE OUTSIDE of the jar allowing it to dry.  You may choose to leave the bottom unpainted, or place the jar on it's opening to paint the entire jar.  Use horizontal strokes, working around the jar, for the best effect.  You may see brush marks, but it will dry without brush marks.  Just paint lightly and consistently for the best results.



TIPS:

 Remember to make enough mixture for the size jar or glass piece you are painting, if you make too little mixture it will be hard to make another batch of color that matches exactly.

Paint the mixture on lightly but you may have to do a second coat.  I painted too heavily and I got a bit of running on some of the jars, which left a dripping effect.

Be expecially careful around any imprinted letters or designs on the glass, they tend to collect the glue mixture easily.

Mixing colors may seem easy but remember, you only need TOUCHES of blue or green as they are very dark,  Red is a bit lighter in comparison, and yellow being the lightest color.

For example, if you wanted to make purple, you only need a TOUCH of blue and more red for the mixture.

You can get a little crazy doing ombre styles (soooo IN this year)  *see far left below*

 Once they are dry, fill your new lantern with votives and light as a center piece.  You may also place citronella candles and use as an outdoor center piece.   I have not tested this for outdoor rain resistance, but my guess is that they would probably get ruined.

Slight streaking on teal jar