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...


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