Turn boring dollar store glass bottles into GORGEOUS faux vintage mercury glass in just a few steps!
I think I’m in love. I finished this project and then texted my friend Bre and said, “I think I want to mercury glass everything in my house!” That wouldn’t be weird, would it?
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely not the first person on the web to tell you how to fake mercury glass. But those other tutorials are all pretty much the same and use the same supplies. Which is fine. But I wanted mine to look like REAL and OLD mercury glass.
And if you look at old mercury glass, it has dark spots, it has dull spots and it’s just generally more varied than the standard fake mercury glass look.
So I experimented a little bit and came up with a method that turns out this incredibly gorgeous faux vintage mercury glass. It’s just so pretty I can’t even stand it! Someone help me before I mercury glass my kids! Anyway, here’s how you do it…
DIY Faux Vintage Mercury Glass Supply List
Glass jars or bottles (wider mouth is better)
Frosted glass paint (not glass etching medium)
Oil rubbed bronze spray paint (ORB for you YHL fans!)
Painter’s tape
DIY Faux Vintage Mercury Glass Instructions
Make sure your glass bottles or jars are clean and dry. Two of mine were from the dollar bin and one is an empty cocktail sauce jar. Wide mouth glass works much much better for this project.
4. Before the vinegar dries, spray inside the glass with the mirror finish spray paint. Since I did this outside, and, as I tell O all the time, I am not an octopus, I only have two hands, I didn’t get pics of this part. I’m sorry. Just spray a light even coat.
5. When that dries, repeat the vinegar/mirror spray again. You want to build up about an 80% opaque coating inside.
6. I would leave this overnight. Then when it is finally dry, including any paint/vinegar that puddled at the bottom (hopefully there isn’t too much of this, if there is, you’re using too much vinegar or too much mirror paint) spray inside from as far away as possible with the oil rubbed bronze spray paint. Really, you just want a light might, It’s ok if there are some splatters or bigger droplets of this but you don’t want a thick heavy coat that covers everything.
7. Let it dry again and then bring it inside and remove the painters tape and saran wrap!
Obviously these are not intended to hold food or water so don’t use them as a candy dish or to hold flowers. But that’s ok because they’re gorgeous enough on their own!!’
Make super realistic vintage looking faux mercury glass in just a few easy steps! As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.Faux Vintage Mercury Glass
Materials
Tools
Instructions
Notes
Tips and tricks for making faux vintage mercury glass:
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Barbara McLaughlin says
This was the best mercury glass tutorial I’ve ever used! At first, so many steps were intimidating, but each coat dried really fast. It looks like real mercury glass! Thank you!
Willa Beach says
How did you do the insides of the two that have smaller openings? I get the one with the large opening, but how would you do the paper towel trick on the smaller opening jars?
S Hartley says
Can you use tea lights in these?
Cassie May says
No! I would not do that, spray paint is flammable!
Sheila says
Thank you! Just found this and can’t wait to try your method! I like that it looks so much more authentic than other tutorials out there. Was wondering if this would work on the outside of the glass pieces? I would like to use mine for flowers if possible.
Cassie May says
If you do it on the outside, it won’t be shiny! So no, it won’t work. sorry! Try finding another smaller vase that will fit inside the mercury glass vase to hold the water!
Laurie says
Oh, wow – these are so neat! I have never seen anything quite like it before. Thanks so much for sharing!