Thursday, March 24, 2011

If At First You Don't Succeed, Try Try Again



I didn't succeed in my first try...or my second...or my fourth. Luckily I kept trying and am able to say that I painted some bottles. I know what you're thinking and you can go ahead and say it, "Painted bottles, that's the easiest thing in the world." I know and I'm still not sure why this craft and I don't get along. Maybe if I show you my journey you can tell me where I went wrong, because I'm still not sure.

The journey began two months ago when I was not quite satisfied with my spray painted wine bottles and realized that I missed the shiny, glossy look of the glass. I decided to try pouring some paint into an old spice jar and allowing the outside to remain clean and glossy. I didn't have any enamel paint, but I did have leftover latex paint and used that.  I left it upside down for several hours checking it periodically to wipe away the excess paint.  All was looking wonderful so I decided to do some more spice jars. When I went to bed that night, they were looking beautiful.  The next morning I discovered what would come back to haunt me time and time again:

This was actually the third try, but you can see the horror.

Overnight, as they dried, the paint ran completely down the glass and left areas paint-free. I thought perhaps it was the type of paint I chose so I tried craft paint next. All looked well, until 12 hours later when I'd see the streaks.

Looking beautiful before bed

I tried pouring more paint in and recovering the naked areas, but that left the bottles with visible streaks in the sunlight:

Streaks after trying to fix

I also struggled with the paint bubbling at the bottom of the jar after I started alternating upside down and right side up every hour in an attempt to keep naked areas from appearing. I tried keeping the lid on, keeping it off...

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A few times I ended up peeling the paint completely off and starting again. I began to think maybe I should just give up, but then I saw others with their own jars painted around the blogging community and it just fueled my crazed mind. Why could others do it and I couldn't?

In the end, I spent days painting and repainting with a teeny paint brush to cover over the naked areas that appeared each night that I slept. After four days the paint finally dried and stopped running around the jar.  Let's just say, until someone can tell me their secret, I am done with these beautiful, shiny, amazing glass jars.

Only three out of 9 turned out

So, what's the secret?!? I desperately want more faux white milk glass!





Linking to:
A Crafty Soiree
Paisley Passions
A Glimpse Inside

11 comments:

  1. It sounds like the glass is too slick for the paint to stick. Maybe you could use some of your etching solution to roughen up the inside of the bottle and then see if the paint sticks better. The outside would still be shiny.

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  2. Well, even though it was a pain, they look great! lol I don't know a trick to help ya out. Never tried this before.
    Thanks for linking up!

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  3. I have been wanting to try this ever since I saw a similar idea on Martha Stewart's craft site. I'm not sure what type of paint you used but she recommended using enamel paint, after a coat of special surface conditioner. Maybe Rebbie's right - the glass is too slick?

    P.S. I think the bottles do look great - even if they were a headache and a half. The PomPoms are adorable too - very springlike.

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  4. super cute! Saw the project in last months country living magazine and loved it. Love your more. The green color that you used for the bottles looks pretty!

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  5. I think they turned out great!! Perhaps what you could do is paint the inside with some sort of sealer or spray a sealer in there that is clear and gloss...then after that dries try your paint.

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  6. I think all your efforts were worth it...those 3 look great. I wish I had a magic trick for you, but I don't..I want to try it, but affraid to..lol...

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  7. That pink one I did (picture on my blog) I used acrylic craft paint. My paint was a little old and thick so I added a little water to it. It worked well, and was dry within an hour.
    Maybe your weather is the problem.... just saying.

    Love you
    oh and I love love love the green bottles!

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  8. Use only acrylic or enamel. Anything else is near impossible (on a first coat).

    If you want to use latex you need to prime it. An easy way of doing so is using craft glue. Just simply paint the glass with the glue, let dry (it will dry clear) and then paint over that with the latex.

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  9. these are so adorable!! did you make the little colorful flowers?? i'd love to know how :)

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  10. the green ones are phenomenal. my favorite colour. what a chore though. i can only imagine how tough that would have been.

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