A very simple and inexpensive craft, painting on glass is not only fun but great for recycling glass bottles and jars. They turn out not only beautiful but have so many uses such as vases, given as gifts, displayed on a shelf, used for those wonderful "gifts in a jar" projects and recipes and can even be turned into lamp bases; using your imagination I'm sure you will come up with many more uses. The materials you will need to get started are minimal and very affordable such as:
 

Bottles and jars - Keep your eyes open for unusual shapes and sizes.

Paint – There are special paints for painting on glass, but you don’t have to be limited by these you can use regular acrylic paint also.

Spray sealer or clear lacquer

Metal primer (if you want to paint the metal lids also)

Basic Steps:

#1.  Wash bottle or jar thoroughly in hot, soapy water and remove any labels being sure to also remove any residue left from the label.  Dry with clean cloth.  It’s very important that the bottle be very clean for the paint to adhere properly...

#2.  If you’re using regular acrylic paints, you will also need a sealer.  Spray the sealer on the bottle before the first coat and in-between coats of acrylic paint.  If you don’t use the sealer, when you paint on the second coat of paint it will simply peal off the first coat.

#3.  For the bottle pictured above, I first painted it with 2 coats of a buttermilk acrylic paint.  Then I took a brush and made stripes.  If you want more aligned stripes, section your bottle off by taping in sections you don’t want painted.  Paint your bottle and then remove the paint.

#4.  To paint the metal lid, first spray with metal primer and once dry, spray on 2 coats of paint.

#5.  When completely dry, put the bottle into a cold oven; bring the temperature to 250 degrees. After 5 minutes turn the oven off. Allow the bottle to cool down in the oven. This will give the paint on the bottle a hard finish, resistant to heat and moisture.

I painted these once again first with a buttermilk paint.  Then I took an old toothbrush, dipped the very ends in a coffee brown paint and scrapping my finger along the brushes I created this splattered look.

Next I decoupaged some graphics onto it, sprayed a finishing lacquer over this, tied some jute twice around the top and I had a canister set.  These jars were not recycled but purchased at Wal-Mart.

With a glass globe and 2 glass votive holders, I made a matched set.  I first painted on 2 coats of wicker white paint.  Then I took a sea sponge, dipped it in paint and dotted this on all over.  Then spray with a gloss finishing spray.  The little baby jar on the far left holding the Q-Tips I included simply as an example of how useful painted jars and bottles can be.

Other examples of Painted Jars. 

To clean your Painted Glass Bottle or Jar - Do not submerge in water.  Wipe off with damp cloth.  Do NOT put in dishwasher.

Enjoy your beautiful finished bottle. Time to begin another one. Have fun!

This site has been designed by Bob Greenwalt

Copyright 2007