Designer Dupe Frosted Glass Vases
DIY Designer Style Frosted Glass Vases
I love scrolling through the designer home store websites and looking at all of the current trends in furniture and home decor. I can often find inspiration in the smallest of details. I love to see how the designers are styling the furniture or mixing and matching the staging items. I think it is important to be aware of seasonal trends when you are in the business of furniture refinishing like I am, as well as offering more traditional pieces. Through staging, your client can get an idea of how to style their piece when they get it home, or they get a clear idea of the style of furniture they are purchasing from you.
Taking designer or vintage style and recreating it at home is what initially got me interested in furniture refinishing years ago. Sometimes the $2000 dresser or $300 vase is just simply not in the budget, or it is not money you are willing to part with for that purpose. You can create so much beauty in your home with just paint and a little bit of work!
Inspiration
I was scrolling through the Pottery Barn website looking through their tabletop decor for staging inspiration to use for one of my latest furniture pieces, and I came across a set of gorgeous, frosted sea glass-inspired vases. (Frosted Recycled Glass Demijohn Vase | Pottery Barn) They were perfectly frosted and would blend with many different home decor styles; however, the cost for the set would have been well over $300, and for furniture staging purposes, that is just not in my budget. I started thinking about how I could recreate this look and texture for myself in a more affordable way. Through trial and error, I came up with a frosted glass recipe that I am really happy with!
It was evening time when I got around to this project, so I ended up running to Wal-Mart for my glass vases because, in my area, that was the only store open. If I had more time, thrifting vases would have been even more economical. You often see shelf after shelf of beautiful clear glass vases in your local thrift store, and I encourage you to go that route if you can do so! At Wal-Mart, I found a set of two very similar vases in varying heights, so that is what I ended up purchasing. The two large vases ended up costing me around $15. Here are the links to the vases I found if you are looking to purchase these exact ones:
Materials Needed
Two glass vases
Matte Mod Podge (Elmer’s glue would also work)
Miss Mustard Seed’s® MilkPaint™ in Bergere
Water
Cotton balls
Rubbing alcohol
Cleaning
I started by removing any stickers from the vases. I then put a bit of rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball and did an all-over quick cleaning of the vases to remove any dust or oil, giving the paint mixture a clean surface to adhere to. Be sure to let the alcohol dry completely before moving on to your paint.
Mixing Your Paint
Frosted sea glass paint recipe:
2 TBSP water
1 TBSP Miss Mustard Seed’s® MilkPaint™ (powder only) in Bergere
1 TBSP Matte Mod Podge (or Elmer’s Glue)
Blend all three ingredients well and allow them to sit for about 10 minutes, then give your mixture one last good stir before application.
Painting The Glass
I tested out a few different tools, brushes, and techniques on a spare glass bottle I had laying around, and believe it or not, a cotton ball ended up being the most uniform finish, so that is what I used! I ended up going through about ten cotton balls for two large vases.
Dip the cotton ball into your paint mixture
Blot off the excess
Pounce the cotton ball all over your glass, trying to get even coverage (switch to a fresh cotton ball when your paint pattern starts to look uneven)
Let the Vase dry completely
Repeat with a second coat of the paint using the same technique
Finishing Up
As soon as your vase is dry, it is ready for use! Mod Podge is not waterproof, so you want to avoid getting this project wet, as it will likely wash away your finish. There is no need to seal this when you are finished. To be honest, these vases turned out even better than I had imagined. They absolutely took on the look of the $300 vase set for around $25 or less.
The frosted glass is great for furniture staging because it is a matte finish and will not cause a glare in your photos! This technique and frosted paint recipe can be used with any of the Miss Mustard Seed’s® MilkPaint™ colors and on any glass surface. In fact, I was thinking this could work for clear plastic as well, making it an even more affordable project. If you are a furniture refinisher or like to change up the look of your home often, I encourage you to use what you already have and think about using paint to update your items!
I hope you found this project useful and interesting! I encourage you to give it a try for yourself and customize the color to your preference! This designer dupe was quick, easy, and only required a few products, most of which we just have lying around our homes.
Happy Painting!