Thread: Make Pretty Colored Glass With Food Coloring

If you've ever been envious of a friend's awesome colored glass collection, take note of this DIY. With just four supplies and any clear glass bottles, you can quickly get your own pretty glass collection, in the shades and sizes of your own choosing.



Colored glass can be hard to come by and take years to build a collection. If you're not that patient or need a bunch in a particular color, this project from Craftberry Bush is perfect for you.

You will need:
Clean jar
Mode Podge or White Elmers' glue
Paint Brush
Food colouring
Patience

Craftberry Bush does note that the project takes a little patience, and the longer you wait, the more durable the dye job will be, otherwise it's possible it will scratch off. Care should also be taken with how and where the glass is dyed, for example if you plan on using the jar as a vase, only dye the outside of the glass, so the water doesn't wear down the coloring.


Start with a clean jar...

I experimented with several ratios of glue, food colouring and water and believe the magic ratio to be: 1 tsp of glue : 3 drops of food colouring : 1.5 tsp of water. But you might want to try different ratios and see what you results you prefer. Obviously the more food colouring the darker the jar will be. In order to make a turquoise shade you will need two drops of blue and 1 drop of green.


In a small bowl, place the glue, food colouring and water


Mix together with a brush.
This amount is sufficient to cover three jars if you are
using the brushing method (yes, there is another method)


Using even strokes, brush onto jar from top to bottom and being careful not to go over it too much or the glue will start to clump together (this part is a little frustrating until you get the hang of it). The streaks you see when the mixture is wet will be almost invisible if done correctly. This is where patience comes in.

The bottle dries in minutes but during my experiment, I placed it in the microwave for 30 seconds on low to expedite the drying time. I added an extra coat to the neck of the jar and at the bottom of the jar. If you look at a real vintage jar, the accumulation of colour seems to be at these two spots.

I also tried a different method by pouring the
mixture into the jar and shaking the contents
until the jar was completely covered.

Turn the jar upside down and allow the residual mixture to drip onto the lid or paper towel. Once it stops dripping, remove the lid and allow to dry. The results with this method is a little cleaner but it will take several hours to dry and some of the jars had drip marks (


It might take a little practice to get it just right, but here is some more good news: you can wash it off and start over.

Which brings me to the bad news: you can wash it off and start over! These jars - although pretty to look at - are not practical for every day use as the paint will peel off.
Good news: IF you decide to follow the brush method and paint the jars from the outside, there is nothing stopping you from using these jars as vases so long as the water is poured carefully inside or you can always use these or these and avoid the risk.
Bad news: If you like the darker shaded jars, well, I found that the darker the shade I used, the more visible the streaks were.
I encourage you to experiment and have fun with these...Some more good news: I found that the longer the jars have been around the more resistant to peeling they get.

Find it here

Love it !!