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DIY Mercury Glass

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, on purchases made after following an affiliate link. See my full disclosure here.

November 4, 2011 By Jackie

I made my own giant mercury glass vases!  I have been really inspired by all the mercury glass I see on DIY blogs and in stores.  You start to see more and more of it around the holidays.  I really wanted to incorporate some mercury glass into my dining room makeover.  I envisioned some beautiful hurricanes, a la Martha Stewart, for the tablescape.

Mercury Glass Hurricane Centerpiece

I ended up scoring two amazing glass vases at HomeGoods.  I love their unique shape.  They both remind me of beakers you might see in a chemistry lab.  They are also big enough to hold a candle and act as a hurricane.  The taller vase was $12.99…amazing.  The shorter vase was only…wait for it…$6.99…legendary!

Glass Vases

The most difficult part of this project was tracking down the Krylon Looking Glass Spray Paint.  I always prefer to buy in person, because when I want something I want it now.  Well, after 4 stores that carry crafts and/or spray paint I gave in and ordered from Amazon.  Just in case, I ordered two cans.  That was good because they are smaller than normal spray paint.  They are only 6oz each.  They were $11.99 each.  Note: I saw a huge range of prices on this stuff.  I got this price by having my husband order through his Amazon Prime account.  

I followed two tutorials to achieve my final look.  First, I started with the super simple Martha Stewart DIY Mercury Glass tutorial, which only requires a spray bottle of water and the Looking Glass paint.  Here is where I confess I am not good at faux.  I am a perfectionist and faux is usually the opposite of perfection.  But I am trying to explore my lime side (not sure what I mean? read about my teal & lime sides).  I just was not achieving the look I wanted with Martha’s tutorial alone.  The water helps mottle the paint, which is very runny on it’s own, but it does not really give an aged look.  You can see in this work in progress photo how the paint was mottled in some areas and had a perfect mirror like finish in others.

DIY Mercury Glass

I wanted something a little more vintage, aged, grunge.   Then I remembered this tutorial on Take the Side Street.  Anna’s secret ingredient was vinegar.  The acidity eats away the paint a little bit.  I did not follow her tutorial initially, so I just ran with the vinegar idea.  I sprayed vinegar inside my vessels and then wiped lightly with a damp paper towel with a small circular motion.  My teal side, the perfectionist in me, thinks I may have gone a little too grunge, but my free-spirited lime side thinks they are just right.

Mercury Glass Hurricane Candle Holders

I think lit mercury glass is the most beautiful.  Since the mouth of my vases are wide enough to sneak in a pillar candle, I turned them into hurricanes.  I was concerned about real candles sitting in spray painted vases and did not want to buy another glass candle holder to nestle inside.  Instead I decided to give flameless candles a try.  I found a set of 3 flameless pillar candles at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  They also have individual pillars, larger sets, and even flameless votives.  They look pretty realistic since the outside is made with real candle wax.  Obviously if you look at the flame piece you can tell it is fake.  But from the side they look very real.  They even flicker.  They add the perfect warm glow to these mercury glass vessels.

Mercury Glass Centerpiece

The total cost of this project, not including the flameless candles, was $33.  Only one can of Looking Glass paint was used. That is a steal for two large mercury glass vases, faux or not.

Sharing this project here:
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Comments

  1. Knit-2-Together says

    November 4, 2011 at 12:33 pm

    I totally never knew you could create these!! I adore the shiny elegance this gives your beautiful room!

  2. Cathy says

    November 4, 2011 at 1:59 pm

    Very, very pretty. I recently found your blog and love your style. We have such similar tastes (I love mercury glass and have envied that veneer sphere from West Elm, but haven’t made the plunge. Oh, and I could eat your color scheme with a spoon! ) I just wanted to thank you for posting so often. I check every day, and I love when bloggers do a daily post. I don’t usually comment, but do know you have lots of readers!

    • Jackie says

      November 4, 2011 at 3:23 pm

      Cathy,

      Thank you so much for the sweet comment. I am new to taking the plunge on accessories. I am trying to be better because it really helps a space feel personal. The sphere was a $16 present to myself on a recent trip to West Elm. We don’t live that close but try to make a trip to look at the eye candy and buy one small thing if there is something we love! I am so glad you read daily…it really validates all the effort I put into blogging. Thank you!

  3. blue cedar lane says

    November 4, 2011 at 8:37 pm

    great work! you should check out my mercury glass tutorial as well :) i love the size of the hurricanes for these!

    • Jackie says

      November 4, 2011 at 8:49 pm

      Thanks Brandi. I may have to try your version next time. I like how you shared all the scary, drippy in progress pictures. Also love the idea of coating the inside!

  4. Deb says

    November 4, 2011 at 9:23 pm

    I love these! So creative!

  5. Michelle says

    November 4, 2011 at 9:51 pm

    I LOVE it! I have an obsession with mercury glass right now but everything is so expensive! I saw some cheap glass vases at my TJ Maxx and may have to give this a whirl! Popping in from TT&J! Have a great weekend!

    michelleleeinteriors.blogspot.com

  6. Erin{LavenderandLemonDrops} says

    November 4, 2011 at 11:29 pm

    Love your mercury hurricanes! I tried to do this to a lamp and it didn’t work :( I also searched EVERYWHERE for the looking glass paint and found mine at Hobby Lobby.

    • Jackie says

      November 5, 2011 at 4:55 pm

      I am so jealous. We don’t have a Hobby Lobby within 2 hours :(

  7. Nikki says

    November 5, 2011 at 8:42 pm

    Oh! These turned out so pretty. I really like the unique shape of vessels. And good thinking on the flameless candles, I would have done the same thing.

  8. Lisa says

    November 5, 2011 at 9:13 pm

    I’m loving mercury glass as well. You did a great job on yours. I don’t think you took it too far with the mottled look. I’m inspired to try it out myself.

  9. Leslie says

    November 6, 2011 at 4:10 pm

    These are amazing -you have me inspired to try this! Good photos!!!

    • Jackie says

      November 6, 2011 at 5:07 pm

      Leslie,

      Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving lovely comments! I am practicing my photography everyday. I took 183 pictures just today. I am so sad Blogging Your Way is over tomorrow. I will be looking forward to 2.0!

      • Judy says

        March 21, 2012 at 8:48 pm

        Walmart carries the paint.

  10. Bev says

    November 12, 2011 at 7:25 pm

    I just bought looking glass paint one at hobby lobby & another can at Walmart. I want to try it on a old glass decanter with lid was my fathers so will be nice. I seen some mercury glass at TJ Maxx but wanted to make something
    Out of personal memory and I have a few hurricane glasses.
    Great job btw. I’m a bit of a perfectionist. I know this may be tricky but I’ve faux painted a bit. Hope that helps lol.

  11. Jacky says

    November 21, 2011 at 1:08 pm

    They came out beautiful! I’ve looked at a few mercury glass tutorials, and yours is the first one that actually looks like the real thing.

  12. Rukmini says

    November 22, 2011 at 1:46 am

    They’ve come so well! And I also think they haven’t gone grunge at all. Just perfect is prolly what you’d call it.

    It’s adding that touch to your table!

  13. Jessica says

    March 1, 2012 at 5:44 pm

    Love it! Trying it on a vase soon! FYI-found Looking Glass at my local Wal-Mart for $8.99. Wasn’t even looking for it on that trip, and I definitely didn’t expect them to have it, of all places!

    • Jackie says

      March 1, 2012 at 6:01 pm

      Lucky you. I had tried two craft stores, the home center, and Walmart with no luck.

  14. gail says

    March 19, 2012 at 6:57 pm

    I made a mercury glass vase last night following your directions… and I love it! Thank you!!! I found my looking glass paint at Wal-Mart (with all of the other spray paint) for $8.97

  15. Sandy says

    April 17, 2012 at 5:16 pm

    Do you know if you can put flowers or water inside without the paint running afterwards?

    • Jackie says

      April 17, 2012 at 8:21 pm

      Sandy, I would treat the looking glass spray paint like any other spray paint. I would not expect it to hold up well if filled with water. The best option is probably to put a smaller clear plastic cup or glass vase inside the mercury glass to hold the water for the flowers. I do think it is a beautiful idea.

  16. Suni says

    June 3, 2012 at 10:47 pm

    I love this tutorial! I just finished 4 hurricanes from Wal-Mart and they look fabulous! I found your blog searching for teal and lime because those are the colors I’m using for my home. I’m in love!!! I actually own the bedding set you’re using for the master bedroom. :)
    Thank you so much!!!

    (Spray paint $8.97 at Wal-Mart, 4 sizes of hurricanes $5.97, $3.97, $2.77, and $1.97)

  17. Maureen Randall says

    October 7, 2012 at 4:52 pm

    Love,love,love Mercury Glass! I am going to make some of these next week, but I think I will go to my local Goodwill store and pick up some cheap glass vases! Thanks a million for this great idea!

  18. GlamorousMommy says

    October 20, 2012 at 8:09 pm

    I think they’re fantastic! I’m going to start on mine right now :)

    -Fotini

  19. Pam Zirbel says

    February 16, 2013 at 3:38 am

    OH MY GOD!!!! These are amazing! I just heard about that looking glass spray on Nate Berkus’show. they were doing home stuff and did it to a glass piece in the middle and put a pic in the middle of that. they taped the outer part of the glass [maybe an 8X8 piece] which ended up clear…it was awesome….NOw, my mission for this weekend….TO FIND THAT PAINT!!! Thanks for sharing and they look amazing!!

  20. Tori says

    June 18, 2013 at 1:26 pm

    You can find that paint at Walmart. Not sure on the price tho

  21. Hurricane Candle Decor says

    July 23, 2013 at 6:56 pm

    This is a totally awesome DIY project! Time to get my hands dirty and make some candle holders of my very own. Hopefully I can find the spray at a local store. Thank you for sharing such a great post!

  22. Katie says

    June 2, 2014 at 9:57 pm

    Another idea is to use old glass candle votives.. I cleaned out the last of the wax and sprayed a few, some on the inside & some on the outside. They look great! And also cappuccino bottles from Starbucks work nicely.

  23. Cathy s says

    February 19, 2015 at 4:23 pm

    I would buy some really unusual shape pieces of glass from the thrift store. You would be surprised how diverse their glass collections sometimes are.

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