With Spring comes thought of flowers and having beautiful bouquets around the house. Unfortunately many people's vases need an extreme makeover.
Materials needed:
- Gallery glass paint
- Liquid lead or lead strips
- Old vases
- Scissors
- Optional: foam brushes, purchased tips
- Newspaper
Cover the work surface with newspaper. Many of the old vases have stripes and patterns. Don’t be afraid to work with the existing pattern. The changes the color will make will still bring new life to a drab vase.
You can use either lead strips or liquid lead. The strips are much easier if you are following straight lines. The liquid is better if you want the pattern to be more organic. Whichever of the lead products you use, follow the pattern of the vase.
If using liquid lead, allow time for it to dry before adding color. If you use the strips, you can add color right away.
The Gallery glass paint can be applied in a few different ways.
- You can apply it directly from the bottle by cutting a hole in the top of the nozzle. This is not always the most controlled method. You need to be very careful that the hole is not cut too big so that the paint comes out too fast or too small so that it takes brute strength to get enough paint out for the project.
- The second way of applying the paint is to use small foam brushes. Depending on the size of the area this might be the best choice. This is least effective for small details.
- A third way to apply the paint is to purchase special tips that screw right onto the end of the nozzle and can give you a range from extremely detailed to flowing depending on which tip you use. This is not the best method for large areas.
Try a few different methods on the underside of a vase so you can see the different effects the different approaches give. You will find the brushes leave a lot of bubbles and the nozzle alone can leave a linear pattern. The brush approach is a thinner coat than the nozzle coat also. Choose the method that best suits the vase you are rejuvenating.
Don't forget to include the kids. It is another great rainy day project.
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