Mercury Glass Vintage Style Drop Ornaments
Plastic drop ornaments are transformed with spray paint and vinegar to resemble vintage mercury glass! Make these ornaments that will last for a lifetime, following the simple steps below.
I have been so busy creating and decorating, and I haven't had a chance to share everything! I know you're probably ready for a nice, long break! But if you love mercury glass ornaments, and want to create some inexpensive dupes to fill up your tree, be sure to Save and Pin this post so you'll have it ready to go for next year!
Easy Way to Make Silver and Gold Mercury Glass Inspired Drop Ornaments
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Why you're going to love these DIY ornaments
I've made mercury glass ornaments before, and liked the results. However,
THESE mercury glass inspired ornaments are my favorite yet, and I'll tell you
why.
- the shape of the ornament really gives them that authentic, vintage feel
- the embossing on the ornament is very forgiving and helpful to get the very best results
- my little trick further on of using multiple metallics, as well as a touch of black, gives these inspired mercury glass ornaments the BEST true mercury glass effect!
Each one of these mercury glass inspired ornaments is slightly different
which adds to their vintage appeal.
Let's talk about what you'll need to recreate these ornaments.
Supplies
- plastic or glass ornaments (I used THESE exact ornaments, and I highly recommend both the drop (onion) shape, as well as the embossed rather than smooth sides)
- Krylon Looking Glass spray paint OR Rustoleum Mirror Effect spray paint (silver spray paint will NOT give the same results!)
- Rustoleum Metallic Finish gold spray paint (this exact paint is highly pigmented and the perfect gold color)
- spray bottle with vinegar and water (1:1)
- black spray paint (I used THIS exact product)
- ribbon for hanging (I used THIS chiffon silk ribbon)
- heat gun or blow dryer
The steps are simple, but can be slightly complicated. I recommend reading
them over a few times so you understand. You'll need to work outside or in a
ventilated place while using the spray paints. Please don't do this in your
house!
In case you've never used the mirror effect spray paint before, we'll be adding paint the inside of the ornaments to create the mercury glass effect we'll see on the outside!
Step 1 - Mirror paint
Take tops off ornaments and set aside. Be sure to shake spray paint cans
vigorously for a minute or two. Give each ornament 1-2 spritzes of the Looking
Glass mirror paint, then roll the ornament around to distribute the paint
around the inside. We are not going for full coverage here, we'll be building
on the coverage so don't spray it so heavily that you have a big pool of
paint! In fact, you won't really notice anything at all until the paint dries!
Insider tip: I used a box to contain the ornaments while I was working on them, and set myself up on a plastic table on our lawn. This was super helpful for my back, which tends to give me problems if I bend over too much. The spray paints were easy to grab, and the box kept the ornaments from rolling around too much.
Step 2 - Dry
Use a heat tool or blow dryer to direct air inside the ornament to dry the
paint, keep swirling it around while it's wet. I also used hot air on the
outsides of the ornaments once it appeared as though the paint inside was dry.
Step 3 - Mirror paint then vinegar solution
Give each ornament another 1-2 spritzes of Looking Glass mirror paint and
immediately spritz a couple of sprays of the water/vinegar solution. This mix
repels the mirror paint, and helps to create the age spots on the mercury
glass ornaments. Swirl the ornaments to distribute the paint and
water/vinegar.
Step 4 - Dry
Again hit the ornaments with hot air to dry the paint solution inside. You'll notice that the spots that were touched with water/vinegar will dry with little air bubbles!Step 5 - Gold paint
Next you want to use the gold metallic paint. Spritz with a couple sprays and
roll ornament to distribute the paint. The gold paint will start to fill in
some of the areas left behind where the water/vinegar solution repelled the
mirror paint.
Step 6 - Dry
Follow the steps above to dry the paint inside the ornaments
Step 7 - Black paint
Give ornaments a short spritz of black paint (less than you used with metallic
paints in steps above) and swirl to distribute paint to blank areas. Let
ornaments dry.
Step 8 - Repeat
Repeat any of the steps above to build on the look and fill in spots that
dried bare. The goal is to have the ornaments completely covered in paint on
the inside. In the close up below, you can see gold, mirrored silver and
little bit of black.
Step 9 - Spray tops
Finally, spray the tops of the ornaments gold. I find the easiest way is to
insert the prongs into a piece of craft foam (I buy the rounds from Dollar
Tree and leave the plastic on).
Once the tops and the ornaments are completely dry, reassemble them. You can
hang them from ornaments hooks, or add a pretty ribbon that matches your tree
decor.
Optional - age ornaments
If you really want to eliminate some of the shine and give your ornaments a
truly vintage feel, here's a quick way to do this.
Please note: I didn't do this step on any of my large mercury glass
ornaments, but some of the small ball ornaments in these pictures were
given this treatment. Take a closer look...the ones that look dull rather
than shiny have been treated with this easy step.
Mix the following:
- 1 Tablespoon matte Mod Podge
- 1 drop black acrylic craft paint (get the cheap kind from Walmart!)
Mix these together. The results should be a light gray color.
Using a soft craft brush, brush this mixture all over the outside of the
ornament. Give it a minute to become tacky, and then dab it with a lint free
cloth.
You will be amazed at how quickly you can age any shiny ornament with this
quick step! I did this to a package of 12 small ball ornaments, and mixed them
in with shiny ones for a truly vintage style look!
I hope you're inspired to make some of these silver and gold mercury glass
inspired drop ornaments! They really turned out beautiful!
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bringing beauty to the ordinary,
Wow - these are really lovely!
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