How To Turn Modern Canning Jars Into Vintage Turquoise

HOW TO MAKE MODERN GLASS CANNING JARS VINTAGE TURQUOISE AND
 how to paint other glassware

Yes, you can do this! Some of you may be aware of this trick, it became popular with bride's for their weddings. They filled them with flowers for each guest table. They are really nice if there's an outside garden party or family gathering, too. All you need is a product called Vitrea 160, which is a transparent color for glass, in a shade called turquoise. You will also need some thinner from the same product line, for a faint hint of color like the original turquoise jars have. Scoop out a small amount of the turquoise color about the size of a small blueberry  into a plastic container. Dip a fan brush into the thinner bottle and then dip the brush  into the turquoise. Before I go on, I forgot to start with the link info:
(Here is the link I found to the Pebeo Vitrea 160 products: Pebeo Vitrea 160 Product Line. The color chart is
at the end of the page. I believe you can get in at Michael's also. You can do wineglasses, lamps and other
housewares to coordinate anything).

Turn your jar or glass object upside down in a small plastic container or plastic plate and brush the glass with  thin, even strokes starting at the rim of the glass and working all the way to the bottom of the jar. It will look very bright in color and cloudy at this stage, but it will look beautiful when finished. Let the jar set to dry un-
disturbed for 24 hours before baking in the oven.

That's the most work involved in this project. You just have to bake the jar in the oven for 40 minutes at 375 degrees F. After it bakes and cools, the majority of your brushstrokes should disappear. It doesn't have to be perfect, most of the brush strokes will not be visible after the jar cools. When filled with water and florals the strokes will fade away. Any more that may still be present will fade even more.

Now this isn't as nice as the vintage turquoise jars, but look on eBay and see what they are going for. You can buy used or new canning jars on Amazon, craigslist or at Walmart like a dozen for $18.00 or less. That breaks down to less that $2.00 per jar, a far lower cost than a vintage jar. You can rust the jar lids instantly with
the Rusting Spray Paint Tutorial on my previous blog posts or use the vintage zinc lids that you may have in
your stash somewhere or that you can pick up at yard sales or flea markets.
You can make a dish washing soap or lotion dispenser by using the old zinc lids and buying a pump dispenser and have hubby drill a small opening to fit the pump, and assemble the pump to the lid with epoxy.
I know this isn't a great set of instructions but I haven't thought that out yet. There are tutorials, I'm sure on how to make a soap or lotion dispenser on the web somewhere. I haven't Googled it yet myself. I wanted to put up the information for making the jars turquoise first.
Here' some more help from Michael's website:

Helpful Hints 1. Be sure to clean glass before painting. Rubbing alcohol or glass cleaner will work to remove any residual grease left on the piece. 2. Follow the instructions carefully for each paint product selected. Some paints (such as PermEnamel) require an undercoat and overcoat to be applied before and after the color. Other paints such as Vitrea 160 and Glossies require only paint. 3. All glass can be baked. Simply place it in a cool oven, allow the oven to heat to desired temperature, set the timer and bake for the required time. After baking allow the piece to cool down before removing from the oven. Oven thermometers are suggested. 4. Resin based paints such as Pebeo's Vitrea 160 are removable until baked. Simply wipe off mistakes with a cotton swab and warm water or alcohol. 5. All brushes can be used for glass painting; synthetic brushes tend to allow for more brushstrokes, natural haired brushes allow for more paint to be applied for a smoother coverage. 6. All tools can be cleaned with soap and water. If using an acrylic based paint (such as PermEnamel and Glossies) be sure to clean the brushes immediately after use - so they don't dry out. 7. To paint an entire piece all one color - sponges give the best overall, even coverage. 8. When using stencils, sticky stencils work best. Stick the stencil to glass and apply paint with a sponge. 9. Many effects can be obtained using mediums, accessories and auxiliary products. Pebeo's Vitrea 160 line offers frost medium for frosted effects, iridescent medium for iridescent effects and crackling medium for crackled effects. The Vitrea 160 paint line offers a selection of both frosted and glossy colors as well as 10 colors of dimensional outliners for adding designs with a "puffy" dimensional appearance. Delta's PermEnamel offers additional frost medium, shimmer colors and outliner for lead effects. 10. Don't mix the paint lines with each other as each has a different formulation and combination of the products by mixing paints could result in undesirable results! I have a tutorial to post later on a candy corn wreath and a couple new giveaways to post here. Bye for now, Susan