I swear, Matt and I should just change the theme of our wedding from "country chic" to "Pinterest," because that is where ALL of my ideas have come from. I knew from the get-go that I wanted to have a DIY wedding for a couple different reasons. First, because it would be much cheaper than buying and/or renting decor. Secondly, because I just love doing crafty projects and this gives me a really good excuse to do them! And finally, because (as I've said many times before) I can make my wedding exactly what I want it to be.
My first project that I took on was possibly the simplest: the centerpieces. I found a photo of glass bottles that had been painted - on the inside. I loved the look. It was clean and simple with a pop of color. And, with the paint on the inside of the bottle instead of the outside, it looks much more elegant and less "crafty." You'll be much less likely to scratch or chip the paint when it is on the inside of the bottle. But, be careful, because the paint is water-based, you cannot put flowers directly into the bottle (unless you want the paint to dissolve away!). If you'd like to fill the jars/bottles with flowers, I'd recommend putting a small cup of water into the jar/bottle first so that the water doesn't touch the paint.
I enlisted the help of my friends and family members on this one. I sent out a request via Facebook that all my friends and family members would save any clear glass jars or bottles that they may have and give them to me to be "recycled." As a result of this request, I got tons of unique glass items of all shapes and sizes - liquor bottles, jelly jars, pickle jars, mason jars, beer bottles, salsa jars, and many many more. This made my inner environmentalist feel really good about keeping these items out of the landfills!
For this project you will need:
- acrylic paint - use a few different colors or even mix a couple colors in one jar and make it marbled/swirled.
- something for the paint to drip into while drying (I used plastic cups and an empty pizza box!)
- CLEAN glass bottles and/or jars of all shapes and sizes.
- Patience!!
- Small sized paintbrush (that could fit inside the top of the jar/bottle)
You want to start off with clean, dry glassware. Dirty or wet glass will not hold the paint and it will come right off. Pour a bit of paint into the jar/bottle being careful to not get it everywhere! Depending on the size of of the jar, you'll want to have about 1/2 an inch of paint in the bottom for a medium sized jar. Cover all of the inside with paint by slowly tilting the jar around until all clear sides are covered (this is where the patience comes in!). Once most of the jar has been covered, use the small paintbrush to touch up any parts that are missing color, especially right inside the mouth/neck of the container. Leave the bottle/jar to dry upside down until you think the majority of the extra paint has dripped out (I left mine overnight). After most of the excess paint has dripped out, turn the bottle right side up and let dry completely. I'd recommend leaving them overnight once more. Once dry you can clean up the paint around the mouth of the container by simply scratching it off with your fingernail.
Because I'm only using these items for a wedding and not as part of permanent home decor, I did not use enamel paint for glass. The enamel paint is more "permanent" on glass and is harder to chip away once you've set it. Because the enamel paint is thicker, I had a harder time getting it to swirl around in the bottle. Because of this, I used regular acrylic paint as I'm not worried about the paint being "permanent" - it only needs to hold until the wedding is over!
As I said, I'm going to be using these bottles as part of the centerpieces for the reception. They'll be grouped together with some "slices" of wood, somewhat like the photo below (photo credit: here). I can't wait to show you all the finished product! Be sure to check back in a couple months to see the photos of the wedding decorations in all their glory!
A really fun thing to do with this project is add two or three different colors to the jars. To do this, add paint in a few different colors to the jar and swirl them around to create a marbling effect. My grandmother and I did this with clear Christmas ball ornaments when I was a kid and they were gorgeous!
Happy painting!
-C
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