Thanks for joining me for my first ever Makeover Monday!!!
This week, I tried my hand at creating the look of Mercury Glass using hurricane lamps and Krylon’s Looking Glass spray paint. Way long ago, this pin that got me thinking about trying out this craft.
Are they not classy?? I loved the look, but not the price! And another problem was that I wasn’t sure how I would use the technique in our house since I don’t typically use gold-ish accents. But then a few days ago, I came across a few more mercury glass tutorials using Krylon’s Looking Glass spray paint when I linked up to the Pinterest Challenges.. (UPDATE – removed links because they were failing.)
This was another one of the pins I found… Ahhh… now this was more in my color range!
I didn’t want to experiment on anything I already had, so I stopped by the Dollar Store and picked up a hurricane lamp and a candle stick holder (another great idea from the blogosphere) and then started my quest to find the paint.
I tried about 6 stores in our area looking for the paint, but no one carried it. What I thought was more amazing was that Joann’s and Michael’s hadn’t even heard of it! Where are all the Pinterest Pinner’s around here?? I checked eBay and Amazon, but I couldn’t bring myself to order it online. They wanted $11 and up for one little 6 ounce can, plus shipping! I didn’t want to have to wait for it either, so I just kept calling stores and stopping into every place I could think might have it. I finally called my Sherwin Williams store (again) and they checked to see if they could order it for me. (I love them!!) Anyway, a few hours later, they called me back with the amazing news that another Sherwin Williams store had it in stock, but only because they had over ordered a special order of it! Woo-hoo!! I took the trip to pick it up this morning.
Then I stopped at Goodwill and picked up this for $2.92.
Why do they use such odd numbers? Anyway, it was perfect for what I needed.
Sorry to deviate from the makeover, but a funny thing happened when I was at Goodwill… when I was at the register, I overheard the manager tell a woman that “no, you can not return that toilet seat”. (The woman was claiming that it “didn’t work”. HUH??) I’m not sure which part of this conversation bugged me more – the fact that they SOLD a used toilet seat, or that someone was trying to RETURN it!! ICK!!!
Okay, getting back to my project… The blog I had most recently read here, at Take the Side Street, said that I should give it five thin coats first, then add the acidic water to distress it, but other blogs said to spray it with water first, then paint it while it was still wet. I decided to try it both ways. For the bigger hurricane lamp, I cleaned the glass, tried to tape off the outside of the glass, since you have to spray paint the backside of the object you want to paint, and sprayed some clean water into the hurricane glass. Then put the first coat of Looking Glass. I rolled it around, trying to coat it evenly, but it looked drippy. Then I let it dry. After about an hour, I couldn’t wait any longer and brought it inside and dried it with the hair dryer. And put a second coat on top of the watery looking one already on there. It wasn’t creating the look I was expecting, so then I used a paper towel wet with a solution of water and white vinegar to gently wipe the sides, effectively pulling off the very fragile paint from the sides. I then gave it another coat of paint and let it dry some more. It turned out a little more like the pics in the other blogs, but it’s more solidly mirrored. I think that’s my fault, since I am really a little shy about distressing anything. I like things to look clean, which makes it difficult for me to mess something up on purpose! HA!
The second set, I sprayed while they were dry. I did a few coats right in a row, letting them dry for about two or three minutes between coats. It was a much more solid looking gray if you looked inside of the glass, but the outside did look a little mirror-y. Then I wiped it down gently with the paper towel. HUGE chunks of paint came off, so I wiped a little more gently, then added another coat or two, which gave it a slightly textured look. And then I added another because I decided that I should show the difference between distressing it and leaving it be. This is what I came up with…
Notice I also painted the base of the candle stick holder? I wanted a little bling on the base too!
And here they are together.
Don’t mind me in the reflection – it is a mirror-like finish after all 🙂
I do like the finished look, but I don’t think I’ll be using it to do what I had originally planned, which was to re-finish the glass lamp I found at Faith Farm the other day. First of all, you have to paint the inside of the lamp, which I couldn’t get a uniform coat of paint in there, and second, I am afraid to mess it up! I can’t wait to try it on something flat, where I’m pretty sure it will coat more evenly. In the meantime, I bought a bunch of cans while I could, so I better get to work thinking about where else I can use it! :p
I have to say that Krylon is really missing out on potential sales by not having this stuff in stock at the craft stores. I was also looking for their Original Chrome spray paint so I could paint a few picture frames for my son’s room, but not even Sherwin Williams could help me on that one – they can’t even find a part number to order it! If you come across some in your travels, let me know!
Hope you enjoyed my first Makeover Monday post. I am trying to decide what to make for Tasty Tuesday. I have at least a hundred recipe pins to choose from – this might take a while.
By the way, if you aren’t already following me on Pinterest, here’s where you’ll find me… http://pinterest.com/apinterestaddic
mairzeebp says
LOVE it. I think they both look so cool that I am now wracking my brain to figure out what I can use that paint for. Toenails? 🙂
A Pinterest Addict says
I have TEN cans of it now! I am tempted to sell them, but I’m afraid I’ll need them. I’ll send you one for Christmas!
Emma harrison says
They sell krypton mirror looking glass paint at Walmart!
Tracy says
You make me want to re-decorate my house…. one day when I have more time 🙂 xoxo
Norma P says
I am like you, I like cleanliness and I can never get myself to distress things even if that was my original intention. So in all honesty which technique did you liked better? Vinager and water before or after the spray paint?
A Pinterest Addict says
I think the vinegar and water spray first worked better. And yes, it pains me to distress anything, still! ?
Vicki says
Paint is available on amazon.