I’ve been seeing all these great craft tutorials on Pinterest that teach how to tint glass jars permanently. Did you know you can re-purpose and recycle empty glass jars and bottles? You can also use this method to turn those Dollar Store vases into expensive-looking tinted ones. There are different methods of coloring glass so I’m going to share some I’ve found through Pinterest that screamed “Try me!”. Plus, I have added a full tutorial on making tinted glass jars. Start saving those glass jars or turn new clear canning jars into tinted ones.
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Part One: Dollar Tree Tinted Jars Tutorial
This is one of the most low-priced methods you can use to make stained jars. With only kid’s craft glue and food coloring it’s possible to make these pretty stained glass jars. Experiment with different colors of food dye to match your decor or make seasonal ones. The advantages of using food coloring are it takes very little of it to tint the glass and bottle, and secondly, it gives the glass a stained-glass appearance instead of opaque when using paints.
Supplies:
- 3 Wide-Mouth Jars or reuse old candle jars
- Disposable Plate
- White School Glue
- Blue and Green Food Coloring
- Stir Stick (a craft or popsicle stick works well)
- Sponge Paint Brush
- Scissors
- Jute Twine (for decoration)
Instructions:
Step One
Pour glue onto three sections of the paper plate.
Step Two
Add 5 drops of blue to one section, 5 drops of green to another section, and 5 blue and 5 green to the last section.
Step Three
Stir the food coloring and the glue together until mixed.
Step Four
Apply the three mixtures to each of the three jars, making one blue, one green, and one teal.
Step Five
Let them completely dry and then apply another coat if needed for more color depth and a more stained glass appearance.
Step Six
Wrap the top portion of the jar with the jute twine to the desired fullness, then tie the ends in a bow.
You can create so many kinds of decor with saved jars and bottles from your kitchen, dollar store glass jars or vases, and of course mason jars! The number of different custom glass jars you can make is endless.
Part Two: Roundup of How to Tint Glass Jars Permanently
1. From Fancy That Design House – Color Tinted Glass Jars
This method uses Mod Podge and food coloring. After mixing them with some water, pour a small amount into the jar and move it around so the liquid completely covers the inside. To learn how to do it Click Here and here’s another tutorial using that method but with different color samples: Click here to visit this tutorial at Momtastic Blog Tutorial. These are great-looking, but I don’t think they’d be water-resistant.
Even so, the amber mason jar’s look gives it an antique look, great with several decorating styles. Using your leftover jars, you save having to spend $6 or more a piece on tinted amber mason jars. If you want cute colored glass jars or bottles to make into vases, use a quality bottle cutter before tinting the glass.
2. From Mod Podge Rocks! – Faux Beach Glass Mason Jar Lanterns
This method uses glass paints by Martha Stewart that are now hard to find but you can use this spray paint instead (plus it makes the project faster). The effect looks just like sea glass – gorgeous! Click here to visit this tutorial. The paint used in this tutorial can be cured, though it’s not shown. One of them we’ll share in a moment does.
3. Liz Marie Blog – DIY Sea Glass Bottles
In this tutorial, you learn how to make sea glass colored jars also uses the spray paint recommended above. Spray paint is generally more water-resistant than craft paint. Well worth trying!
4. HGTV Handmade’s How to Tint Mason Jars
Wow, the color possibilities! Watch the video to learn how. You’ll need glue (or Modge Podge) and food coloring which is similar to many other tutorials. However, I like how it shows the difference in the concentration of the food coloring. With 20 drops, 40 drops, and 60 drops she’s able to create 3 pretty blue-tinted glass jars with a variety of color depth.
5. Something Turquoise – DIY Tinted Mason Jar Candles
Martha Stewart’s craft line is always coming out with new products, including some awesome paints. This tutorial uses Martha Stewart Glass Paint showing you how to how to tint glass permanently by curing the jars after the paint is dry you create permanently dyed glass jars. The difference with this one is no Modge Podge means the paint can more permanently adhere to the glass.
If you still want to make your colored glass jars more unique, you may wish to decorate them with custom stickers. You can customize the pattern, size, and shape you want. You can fill them with paper stars or candles and give them to your friends, family members, and neighbors as birthday gifts or greetings. I am sure they will be very happy to receive your gifts!
Conclusion
As you can see after looking at these great tutorials, there seem to be many popular methods to tint glass permanently. You can use Modge Podge and Food Dye, but it’s not waterproof. You can use glass paint which is designed for coloring glass. A great plus is being able to cure it. It will make your jars more water-resistant. It’s not like acrylic paint. Instead, it’s made to dry with transparency and be resistant to coming off. Lastly, you can use spray paint designed to be translucent when dry. Again, it’s more resistant because it’s permanent paint. I hope you have fun trying these out!
Love Grungy Primitive Jars? We have a tutorial for that: How to Make Primitive Grungy Jars
