Fall Fun from Old Glass Jars.

After painting the silhouettes last week,

I was intrigued about glass-painting.

(Thank you for the fun comments.

 Jenny, yours about the glue gun really made me laugh!)

I stopped at Michael's craft store and a worker sang me the praises about

Martha Stewart's new 'paint-on-anything' paint
(well, it is called glass paint, but it says:
  the "acrylic craft paints provide superior coverage for all fabric, wood, glass, ceramic, plastic, and metal projects.

Offered in a range of beautiful colors and five finishes—satin, high gloss, metallic, pearl, and glitter, inspired by her original glitter colors—Martha’s craft paints resist fading and wear, are ideal for indoor or outdoor use, and even safe for dishwashers."

It happened to be on sale,

so I figured I'd get my $2 per bottle use of it.

The refrigerator received an unplanned cleaning

as the search for unique glass jars to experiment with ensued.

After being washed with soap and water,

the jars were rubbed down with alcohol to release any grease they might have.

I picked up a package of stencils,

(lettering in two sizes, a border, and some various designs)

also on sale,

and applied the sticky stencil to the jar.

Being one who is technically challenged,

I had to figure out how these bottles of paint were to be opened.

Of course, I discovered that not only were they packaged in a plastic wrapping,
but they also had a seal on the inside that needed to be removed.

Once that issue was resolved,

I tried to twist the plastic cover off.

Then I noticed that the lid to the paint itself twists off,

but the clear plastic cover just pops off and on when the lid is lined up to the notch.

Pretty smart: twist to open the paint for pouring it out,

pop to open the plastic cover to squeeze it out from an itty-bitty hole.

The paint is then ready to use.

My good friend M. Stewart

(yes, 'good friend' being used in a broad sense of the term)

sells application tools: a squeegie set, different sponge applicators, etc;

but I just squeezed it into the stencil holes on this one.

I did have a few dots that wanted to stretch and had to be touched down

but only one smeared enough that I had to wipe it off and add a new dot in it's place.

(The thing about this paint is that the whole project can be washed off before it has been cured

if an unforgivable mistake occurs.

Also, one must take the stencils off while the paint is still wet.)

Proper tools would have, no doubt, prevented my smeared dot,

but I was able to salvage the situation.

After carefully removing the stencil

(and washing it right away in water:

the great thing about these stencils is that you can run them right under the water

but once the stencil dries, the back is sticky again!

I should warn you to be careful when washing them in the sink:

the paint is so incredibly durable,

it wants to stain the porcelain in the sink.

My sink is so bedraggled by misuse that I didn't mind too much,

but if you love your white sink,

you may want to rinse the stencil in an old dish pan.)

I wanted to make my jar suitable for a fall decoration,

so I printed up a leaf from the Graphic Fairy's website.

I love her fun images,

can't you tell?

After I applied the tape to the image,

I stuck my hand into the jar to apply it on the inside.

I then spent the next half hour trying to get my hand out of the jar.

Okay, I'm exaggerating a little.

I think it was more like five minutes.

My husband almost got a call at work about taking his wife to the emergency room

for hand-jar removal.

Anyhow, I am sure some smart person could figure out a way to attach the picture to the inside of the jar

and will leave a comment to rescue me from any future stupidity.

This was pearl orange paint that I applied for my leaf.

I left open places for my leaf veins to go.

I'm sure there is a more technical word for leaf veins,

but leaf veins it is.

Phloem and Phlopsm...or something like that.

The paint dries to the touch pretty quickly,

but it will need to cure for 21 days.

Not 22.

Not 20.

21.

If waiting any more than 20 days is just not possible for impatient people

like myself,

there is a way to cure by cooking the object,

as long as it is cookable.

Bake-worthy?

Oven proof, there we go.

(I really need to blog at earlier times of the day when kids make my brain much more organized...

yes, 

that would be sarcasm...

I blog while they are sleeping for good reason.

I don't know if you'd prefer very verbose semi-intellectual communication

as in this blog post,

or three worded sentences of three letter words:

my thinking capacity when they are awake:

"See me do.

Do now you."

Yes.  Bright stuff that would be.

Anyhow,

if you want to cook your paint to curability,

air dry for one hour.

Then place it in the unheated oven,

turn on the heat to 350 degrees F

(glass needs to heat gradually).

 Bake 30 minutes, then let cool in oven.

 Wait 72 hours until using.

Marthastewart.com

To hide the top rings of the jar,

I used a glue dot to apply the burlap

and then tied some worsted yarn to finish it.

The jar can be used with a candle...

(the pumpkin is also a painted jar)

or as a vase.

Or it could be worn on the hand as a pretty glass glove

like a warped version of an autumn Cinderella story.

If you would like more information on this paint,

here is a handy-dandy video:

Plaidonline.com/martha-stewart-craft-paint:video


Oh, and I am not being reimbursed for all this wonderful information:
but if Ms. Stewart would like to include me in any future samplings of her
very fun products,
I would fall over in a faint
(albeit, a very happy one).


Linking up to:
Cedarhillranch: Cowgirl-up-linky-party 
Thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com: Make-it-pretty-Monday 
 Graphicsfairy.blogspot.com

homesteadrevival.blogspot.com 
Betweennapsontheporch.net 

Wearethatfamily.com 
Time-warp-wife.blogspot.com 
Adiamondinthestuff 
Homestoriesatoz.com 
Tipjunkie.com 
Savvysouthernstyle.net: Wow-us-Wednesdays 
Abowlfulloflemons 
Astrollthrulife 
Myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com 
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