Mercury!

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Maybe it is just me, but I have noticed that mercury glass is everywhere this season! I think mercury glass is timelessly beautiful, even if it is a cheaper substitute for silver. And while looking through the West Elm catalog, I saw some mercury glass vases and thought to myself...I can make that! So, this is my West Elm knockoff mercury glass vase how-to. Here is my inspiration picture:

What you will need: silver leaf, adhesive, umber glaze (I didn't have this and used antiquing glaze), a sponge brush, and a glass vase that you can stick your hand into. Since this is a trial-and-error DIY knockoff project, I am using three different types of glass and techniques to determine the best method for the mercury glass look. All three of my vases came from a thrift store for about $1 each.

Let's get started! Be sure that the glass is clean and dry. My plan it to add the antiquing glaze in with the adhesive on the plain vase, antique the crackle vase as the last step, and just silver leaf the ridged vase. And let me tell you now, the plain vase method was a fail.

Step 1 - Adhesive. Brush the adhesive onto the inside of the vase using the sponge brush. The adhesive is white so you will easily be able to see where you have put the adhesive. Cover the entire inside of the vase, making sure that the adhesive doesn't puddle in the bottom of the vase. If it does puddle, just wipe it out with a paper towel - I had to wipe out the extra adhesive. This step is easy peasy.

I added the antiquing glaze to the adhesive for the plain glass and created a major fail. The adhesive never became tacky and the silver leaf would not stick to it. So, don't try to add antiquing glaze to the adhesive. Wait until the end to antique!

Step 2 - Dry time. Let the adhesive dry for about 40 minutes...it will become tacky and a creamy color. While you wait, grab yourself a cup of hot cocoa and catch up on a TV show, which is what I did. Or if you are an over achiever, you could do laundry and dishes...but who wants to do that?!

Step 3 - Silver leaf. Take a piece of silver leaf and place it onto the adhesive with the silver side towards the adhesive. The key is to not be a perfectionist. If the silver leaf crinkled up on you, no worries it will look great. Press the silver leaf into the adhesive. Next, slowly peel off the wax paper leaving the silver leaf behind. If the silver leaf rips or comes off in pieces, even better. We don't want the glass to be all silver, we are going for mercury glass which is imperfect.

It was hard to hold the camera in one hand and silver leaf with the other. However, if you have two free hands, the silver leafing goes much quicker than in the video.

Step 4 - Brush it off. Brush the excess silver leaf off with a sponge brush. The silver leaf will fall to the bottom of the vase. Shake out the silver leaf into the trash. You now should have a happy little silver-ish vase.

Step 5 - Glaze. If you are happy with the look of the mercury glass, stop now. However, if you want a more antique look, this would be the time to add the glaze. To do this, brush the antiquing glaze onto the inside of the vase. Then, immediately wipe off the glaze. You can wipe off as much as you like, or leave as much as you like. Completely personal preference.

My original plan was to leave the ridged vase plain, no antique glaze. However, I liked the look and depth that the antique glaze gave the glass, so I antiqued it. I am pleased with the finished product, but I think next time I will add more silver leaf to make the vases look more like the inspiration picture. More is better. Also, I managed to salvage the plain glass vase by wiping out the antique adhesive with a paper towel and starting over with plain adhesive. Here are the finished vases: 

The plain vase doesn't have the antique glaze on it and the other two do. I think the best method is to antique at the end, if you want that look. If not, just silver leaf the vase and call it done.

Project cost breakdown:

Silver leaf          $4.50 (half off at Hobby Lobby)

Vase                 $3.00 for all 3
Adhesive           $2.00 (used a 40% off coupon)
Glaze                $0, already owned
Brushes            $0,  already owned
Total                $9.50 for 3 knock-off mercury glass vases

I love my knock-off mercury glass vases! And for $9.50 for three of them, you can't beat that deal. This post might seem long, but that is only because I was very detailed. It was super easy to make these. So easy that even I could do it.

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