Friday, March 30, 2012

Painting Glass....

Well, I wanted a pretty glass dish soap dispenser with the pour spout like they use in bars to regulate the flow. Of course, looking at these on stores and online, it was just an expense I couldn't justify right now.HOWEVER, I did see vinegar and oil dispensers at WalMart for $3. They were clear and plain but I got the idea to make my own.

I got home and Googled DIY painted glass and  got to work. I didn't take photos but the first step was to clean the glass really good to get it ready for paint. I used glass cleaner, then went over it really well with rubbing alcohol.

Than I got my little paint stations set up with my colors. I had read several "how to's" and one said she uses crafting enamel but another said the acrylic works so I went with the acrylic since I had plenty of it on hand.







Now, I am creative, but I am no artist so I decided to just go with multi colored polka dots. Q-tips gave me a nice tool and I could loosen the cotton on the ends easy enough to vary the size of the dots.

I started with yellow...and since I was pretty much winging it, just placed a few here and there to get started. I think I would add more when I do it again, but I didn't want to over run it with a single color since I had several in mind to add.
Then I just went at it, color by color until I had used all that I had pulled out to use. You can see, I could have done MUCH more but didn't want to fool with having to take off a bunch, I was too eager too see how it turned out.
OK, so I have added all I am going to for now and it is time to set the paint. The people who posted how to were making painted wine glasses so I didn't bother trying to treat it with any kind of clear coat seal so I will update after I have used it a while to see if the paint chips or fades without it. I figure if glasses you use and drink don't require one, then this soap dispenser shouldn't either.

I put this bottle in a cold oven, set my timer for 30 minutes and turned it on to 350. Leave the glass in the over until it is cooled and voila! You have painted glass, ready to use. They did say if you choose not to cure it in the oven, the paint will fully set in 21 days. (No way was I waiting! lol)








Here it is with a white cutting board behind it to try and show the colors, I had clear dish soap already but I think a colored one would look fabulous too!
And this is my finished product, filled and ready on the sink shelf :)

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Just a quickie...

So, I am still getting moved in the new house so crafting has been at a stand still. However, Ikeep everything out to taunt me and last night I decided I HAD to make something before I went to bed.

I have been saving bottle caps. Once upon a time it was going to be for making a dangling curtain kind of thing, but I have never gotten that far so I decided to break open my new lil glue gun and make some magnets since my favorite brewery out West isn't accessible to me here in Ohio.

SUPER easy, I jsut heated up my glue gun, laid out my bottle caps and some magnets and in minutes I had handfuls of these cute little reminders of my favorite beer...inside the cap, Deschutes Brewery prints their motto "bravely done" so I made a couple backwards to show this as well..

I did put a good bit of glue in the cap. I was hoping to raise it up a little bit so that I wouldn't have to worry about the caps scratching or the magnets not holding well enough...
And there you have it, a 10 minute craft fix for me and some super cute new magnets for my fridge :)