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Hand Painted Glass Vases

Have you tried painting on glass? Even children can make these simple hand painted glass vases!

hand painted and silkscreened glass vase

Dollar store glass vase painted and silkscreened by my six-year-old using Plaid’s new Martha Stewart glass paint. All of the vases started off clear like this one. The butterfly is silkscreened on with Antique Silver Martha Stewart Fine Glitter Translucent Glass. The butterfly’s house is Chipotle Martha Stewart Gloss Opaque Glass, and the purple grass is Pacific Iris Martha Stewart Gloss Opaque Glass.

While I love crafting, I had never tried painting glass or using stencils or silkscreens until last month! Thanks to Blueprint Social, I was able to try out Plaid’s new Martha Stewart glass paint, and I’m quite happy with the results! My kids were also able to create beautiful hand painted glass vases to bring to their school teachers.

I was sent all sorts of goodies to try out:

Martha Stewart glass paint, stencils, and tools

I first prepped a clear, cylindrical vase by cleaning it with rubbing alcohol.

Next, I combined Blue Calico Martha Stewart Frost Translucent Glass Paint with the spray medium that came in the Glass Spray Paint Kit. I sprayed this onto the outside of the vase, purposely staying away from the top edge and spraying slightly more paint on the lower edge.

spray painted frosted vase

We then left it to dry overnight.

The next day, my very crafty (and very good at listening and following rules in a crafting context) four-year-old son stuck on some butterfly and dragonfly silkscreens, and added paint with a 1/2” paint dauber. Here he is applying Yellow Gold Martha Stewart Metallic Opaque Glass Paint:

Applying Martha Stewart Screen Prints

He is taking this vase to his preschool teacher, and picked out the colors just for her. Here is the finished product:

fireflies silkscreened on a vase

Here are a few of our other projects:

Painted Vases with Martha Stewart Glass Paints

Top left: Done with a Martha Stewart Glass stick-on stencil and Wedding Cake Martha Stewart Gloss Opaque Glass Paint on a ceramic vase we received with a bouquet a couple years ago. We now use this vase to hold wooden spoons in the kitchen!

Top Right: My three-year-old used the #2 flat Martha Stewart Crafts glass paint brush to apply Yellow Jacket Martha Stewart Frost Translucent Glass Paint. I applied the stick-on flower silkscreen, and helped her use the 1” pouncer to apply Obsidian Martha Stewart Fine Glitter Translucent Glass Paint. Dollar Store vase.

Lower Left: This vase started off spray painted with the Blue Calico Martha Stewart Frost Translucent Glass Paint, but I didn’t do a very good job applying the paint, so I then rolled over it with the paint roller. I think the bubbly effect comes from the paint being mixed with spray medium, since I used a roller to paint another vase (pictured below) and it had a roller texture, but no bubbles. The bubbles are an interesting effect that I kind of like – here is a close-up:

bubble close-up - painting glass vases

And here is the vase I roller painted with Clear Martha Stewart Frost Translucent Glass Paint that had not been mixed with spray medium. It has the roller texture, but no bubbles:

vase frosted with Martha Stewart Glass Paints

I tried using a squeegee instead of a dauber or pouncer for the silkscreen, and I feel like it worked less well than silkscreens applied with daubers and pouncers. The squeegees do work much better than daubers or pouncers for stencils. I used Yellow Gold Martha Stewart Metallic Opaque Glass Paint for the butterfly. Dollar Store vase.

Lower Right: My three-year-old was so in love with the first vase she painted (top right) that I let her make this second vase for her teacher. She used Yellow Gold Martha Stewart Metallic Opaque Glass Paint, and I think it looks quite elegant. As you can see, her painting technique is pretty haphazard, but very effective given enough time and paint!

painting glass vases by hand

Have you ever tried painting glass or ceramic? We will definitely be trying more glass painting projects! 

I wrote this post as part of a paid campaign with Plaid’s new Martha Stewart glass paint and Blueprint Social. The opinions in this post are my own.

MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.

38 thoughts on “Hand Painted Glass Vases”

  1. hi my friend. I’m very happy of your art and good website. I need a few idea in painting glass. and I found in here. unfortunetly internet is very slow in my country. I cant com your website . It’s very dificult. I dont know what is the kind of colors? oil color ? or acrolic or the other color ? Thanks.
    susan of Iran.

  2. What an amazing project! They look great and I love that the kids were involved! Glad you shared at tip toe thru tuesday!
    kim

  3. Raina@MamacitaSpinsTheGlobe

    These look great! I have never used any of these materials, but after reading this, I definitely would like to. What a great idea to make them as gifts too!

  4. These look amazing. We didn’t try to paint on glass, this could be a perfect project for a Christmas or end-of-the-year gift. Last year Anna did a “paint on ceramic” project as end-of-the-year gift for her teacher.

    1. Paint-on-ceramic would also be a great teacher gift! These paints are very easy to use, and I think it would be fun to try them with glass Christmas tree ornaments.

    1. That’s what I loved about it – it’s all very accessible, even if you are trying this type of project for the first time.

  5. I used to love crafty sets like that — well I still do I just gave up on finding time to make crafts. It’s a great idea for a gift, though. But I was wondering about the paint, was it smelly and toxic?

    1. I think you would like this paint. It’s waterbased and non-toxic, but still permanent and top-rack dishwasher safe once you back the product or let it air cure for 21 days. Not smelly at all.

  6. heather at wordplayhouse®

    You have a wonderful head start on holiday gift ideas! I think these beautiful vases would you all seemed to enjoy making so much would make such special presents for family and friends. You have all created such lovely effects with the paints you were given to try out! Lots of fun! ~heather

  7. Amazing, beautiful vase transformations!! It’s awesome how crafty you guys are, and I especially like it that Johnny listens particularly well in that context. Clearly it’s something that resonates with him. Love it!

  8. That looks like a lot of fun, great presents! I wonder how that paint does in the dish washer? It would be fun to do glass mugs, but I’d prefer if I didn’t have more things to hand wash.

    1. It’s top rack dishwasher safe, once it has air cured for 21 days, or you can speed up the process by baking it in the oven!

    1. Thank you! I remember your painted glass bottles and jars post – I have it pinned. SO beautiful!!! I love that you used them to create a fairy garden, too!

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