I've seen a lot of tutorials on DIY antiqued mercury glass, but I just love the look of this one. And it seems pretty simple, to boot! All it takes is some looking glass spray, some vinegar and water in a spray bottle, and a paper towel. Well, and your glass, of course!
The folks over at 17 Apart show how to get this trendy yet timeless look, step by step. They also tried the technique on a variety of surfaces and types of glass, which is great — you can see how labels and grooves in the glass look after they're done. Mercury glass has such a charming look for so many different uses — vases, lamps, decorative bowls… if it's glass, it can be done!
Read More: How To: DIY Antiqued Mercury Mirror Glass | 17 Apart.
(Image: 17 Apart)
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too bad that looking glass spray is so overpriced
I love mercury glass and I love the objects she sprayed. Though I gotta say, they look more like a good metallic effect and less like an aged mercury effect. In the end, these pieces look to me more modern and less aged.
I wonder how this would look on old radiators?
A few years ago I painted a bunch of florist's vases I had laying around the house with white rough-textured spraypaint... sort of a hack, mimicking Jonathan Adler unglazed white porcelain.
This spring I've been updating some of the rooms with mercury glass accents but I've been frustrated because I can't find things in the shapes I like at prices I'd want to pay. I have an unloved colored glass lamp I've been keeping in the attic that will be perfect for this treatment. I've kept it around hoping I could find something to do with it, because it works perfectly well, it's just not very attractive in its natural state.
Where was this tutorial when I wanted a set of mercury glass christmas tree decorations a couple months ago!? I'm totally saving this for next year. In the same vein as thorndale's comment, I wonder how this technique would look with gold metallic paint...?
for radiators- not good. the looking glass paint is only shiny behind glass - the painted side looks like bad silver spray paint. The glass side looks amazing though! I turned an old wall clock into a cute little mirror with some looking glass spray paint. We did a ton of vases with the antiqued look for my sister's wedding - we probably got 30 or so from a single can, so it doesn't seem so expensive if you have a lot of pieces to do.
To Lemonadefish - not necessarily. Read the instructions at the link - she sprayed the outside of the vase.
I tried to imagine gold too, and all I could come up with was badly pitted cheap brass from the 50's.