Trendy Stained Glass Mason Jar Vase

Happy April! A few of my blogging besties and I decided we wanted to have a little fun with April Fools Day. Tori, the brain child of this wonderful event, set us up with a challenge: how many trends can you stuff into one project?  And thus was born Trend Fest 2014.

What is Trend Fest you ask?  Well, we each created 1 project with as many trends as possible incorporated into the project without going too over the top. As Lauren says, “We might be making April Fools of ourselves with these creations, but life’s too short to take things too seriously…especially when it comes to crafting!”

But we couldn’t just stop there.  We decided to make a competition of it, and that’s where you come in.  You, my friend, get to vote for which project you like the best.  You can use whatever judging criteria you like.  The winning blogger gets to be dubbed “Queen Trendy” for the rest of the year.  Our fates are in your hands!  And what’s more, one lucky voter will get a trendy pencil from each of us sent to their door.

And so, I humbly present to you my trendy submission:

I had originally planned to use this tutorial to make a candle, as a stand in tutorial for the butterfly candles I made as Christmas gifts.  But, by happenstance I had some flowers that needed a vase since my current vase has a crack in it.  So flowers made it in as well!

And of course, I can’t show you such a craft without instructions to make your own!  So let’s get crafty my friends.

Materials

Quart Sized Mason Jar (wide mouth would be better if you could find it)
Chalkboard spray paint {affiliate link}
Enamel paint (I used Pebeo Vitrea 160 markers {affiliate link})
A large length of twine
A paintbrush
Some vinyl or Painters tape
Gold paint (I used Rub n’ Buff {affiliate link})

Step 1:  Create your pattern

I used my Silhouette to create and cut a pattern out of vinyl.  You could accomplish the same thing using painters tape.  Check out this chalkboard heart candle tutorial which inspired my stained glass butterfly candles!

For my pattern, I wanted to incorporate the ever so popular chevron pattern and leave a label area.  That way I could make sure everyone knew it was tulips they were looking at, just in case they didn’t know.  Want to download my cut file?  Have at it!

*Do you like using my free downloads?  I’d love it if you followed me on one of my social media outlets!  You can find me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.  Thanks!

Step 2: Apply your pattern

Since I’m using a pattern I cut it, it was simple a task of weeding the vinyl I didn’t want away and carefully placing it on my mason jar with the help of some transfer tape.  In this case, the parts I wanted to be black were weeded away.  If you were using painters tape, you would just place it on the glass jar where you want your stained glass to go.

Step 3: Spray Paint

It’s time for chalkboard paint!  Earl painted up the jar using some spray paint and I took the pictures.  I tried to paint it on with a paint brush first, but that didn’t work.  So don’t do that.

To let it dry, hold it by the rim and carefully place it on a sheet of newspaper.  Your fingers will get a bit of paint on them, but the rim will be covered later.  Once it’s dry, remove the vinyl (or painters tape).

Step 4: Enamel Paint

Next up is enamel paint!  I ordered my paints from darkest to lightest based on the marker tops.  Then I just filled in one set of chevrons at a time to create the ombre.  I chose the green because they had a variety of greens I could work with.  Plus is spring, so green seemed fitting.  Incidentally, it looks pretty with the stems inside later.  Be sure to note how the enamel sets.  Some of them need to be baked in after they air dry, while others can just air dry.

Step 5: Accessorize!

Chevron, ombre, mason jar, and chalkboard aren’t enough for Trend Fest.  We must accessorize!  So, I added a loopy twine bow and painted the edge of the label part with some gold rub n’ buff.  I know, I know, that isn’t a traditional use for Rub n’ Buff, but I didn’t have any gold paint!  Use what you’ve got, right?  And of course, we need to label the flowers going in the vase.  Plus, since it’s chalkboard it’s easy enough to switch the label later!

And Done!

It was a pretty easy craft.  Total trend count:  Mason jar, ombre, chevron, chalkboard, gold, twine, label, tulips (maybe?), and burlap (maybe?).

Time to go take the pictures now.  Yay!  For the pictures, I just had to use the tile backdrop I’ve got and some burlap.  Because who doesn’t love burlap?  And yes, if you’re wondering, I did go out and buy burlap just for this tiny part of the craft.  (It was on sale.)  Here are some of my favorite shots from the photo shoot.

 

I love that we had a little bumble bee swing by for us!  And of course, since it’s spring, I had to use tulips!  It’s too bad they didn’t have any “radiant orchid” colored tulips.  I could have added that color!  I actually really like how this came out.  I’m a sucker for mason jars, and the stained glass treatment is just so much fun!

For my trendy pencil, I decided to hand paint the pencil black with green chevrons.  It’s not chalkboard paint, but I like that it ties into my project.  And the chevron’s aren’t the best.  But it’s hand painted people!  A hand painted pencil!  There was a bit of an extra large gap at the top, so I added in a piece of washi tape because, well, washi tape!  And since we don’t seem to have any regular pencils in the house, you get one of my favorite Zebra mechanical pencils!  Here’s a before and after for you.

So here’s your mission:  Check out all the other projects below and then vote using our Google form!

But before you go meandering across these other projects, don’t forget to head over to my Expressions Vinyl giveaway!  You’ve got until midnight tonight (cst) to try and win a $25 gift card!  Plus, you get to see how to make a really cool leather notepad holder if I might say so myself.

Now, on to your mission!  Don’t forget that one lucky voter will have a pencil mailed to them from each of us!  That’s 6 trendy pencils from all around the country.  Have fun with it!

I like to link up here.
Affiliate links help me keep this blog running. Thanks for using them!
All opinions expressed on this blog are always my own.