Mercury glass objects are hot anytime of the year. I especially love the sparkle of mercury glass around the holidays and you can find a lot of it in my décor at Christmas time. But don’t think that it’s only reserved for the winter wonderland of December! No indeed, my lovelies! You can have Mercury glass adorn the poolside get togethers, patio brunches and outdoor weddings of summer! So let’s explore how to mercury glass candle holders so your next summer soiree can have a bit of glitz and glam!
The trend is all over Youtube, it’s called the dollar store challenge and I just had to do it! As a crafty guy, I couldn’t pass up the chance to go into the store and find some stuff to turn into something else. Now, admittedly, this challenge is much more exciting when you can find things that are completely unrelated and then create an amazing and totally different thing from random items. I’m always super impressed with those. This one is a bit more simple and can be pulled together pretty fast and with items that are intended to be used as candle holders, but I think they turned out pretty spiffy! You can definitely get this project done in an afternoon and have them sparkling on your patio for your next cocktail party the same night! So without further adieu, here’s This week’s Sunday diy: how to make mercury glass candle holders.
How To Make Mercury Glass Candle Holders, Simple Step 1: Gather Up Your Supplies
I got all my essentials for this project at my local Dollar Tree store. The design is completely up to you. I’ve seen similar projects that use tall vases and drinking glasses. I’ve seen this same technique with wine glasses and any other glass vessels. Seriously, the container just has to be glass and it has to be compatible with whatever size candle you wish to use, so go nuts with the design! If you want to make the same design I made, here’s the deets:
Go to the Dollar Tree and purchase: 2, 4” rocks glass candle holders, 3, 4” glass taper candleholders, and 1 plastic spray bottle. The one they had on hand for a buck was the 28 oz. size. Here’s what everything looks like:
Next get your paint supplies and glue. I went to Lowe’s Home Improvement store, but you can find all the necessary supplies at Home Depot or your neighborhood hardware store. You’ll need a tube of E600 craft glue. Make sure it is the one to bond glass. It will say on the label. You will also need a can of gold premium metallic spray paint. I got the Krylon brand. Pick up a can of Rust-Oleum Mirror Effect spray paint. It will say for glass on it. If you want to seal the finish for outside use, get a can of clear coat in the glossy finish. Make sure it says for indoor/ outdoor use. This is optional and isn’t really necessary for indoor use. Although, I did find that I liked the glossy effect when I was all done.
How To Make Mercury Glass Candle Holders, Simple Step 2: Soak Your Glass Pieces in Hot Soapy Water
You’ll want to get any residue or stickers off the glass pieces before painting them. The easiest way to do this is to soak them in some hot soapy water for a few minutes. Give each piece a once over with a sponge or dish towel to make sure the surface is clean and free of residue.
How To Make Mercury Glass Candle Holders, Simple Step 3: Time to Spray.
Set yourself up in a well ventilated area. I put down some cardboard and got all my supplies together to begin spraying my glass pieces. Remember that 28 oz. spray bottle? Fill it up about 1/3 of the way with white vinegar. Don’t use cider or any pigmented vinegar because it will color your glass.
Spray a generous amount of vinegar on al the pieces so that it beads up on the surface of the glass. Make sure to get the entire surface of each piece covered evenly, front, back, sides.
Spray a light coat of gold spray paint over the vinegar before it dries. You want to lightly cover the beads of vinegar but don’t spray on a thick coat where you can’t see the glass underneath. Make sure to move around the pieces so you can coat the front, back and sides.
Let that layer dry for about 10 minutes. (I sprayed mine outside on a warm summer day and it definitely dried in 10 minutes.)
Next spray another generous coat of vinegar on all the pieces again and immediately spray on the mirrored effect paint in a light coat, same as before. Let dry for 10 minutes.
Repeat this entire process two or three more times until you get the mercury glass look. In the end you’ll see you have gold showing through the silver and the vinegar will make little water marks that will allow the candle light to highlight the mercury effect! So pretty!
How To Make Mercury Glass Candle Holders, Simple Step 4: Glue the pieces together.
When everything is dry, take your E6000 and glue the pieces together. I wanted to create a staggered height look, so I glued one of my rocks glass pieces onto the top of my 4” candle stick and that got me a shorter height candle holder. I took the remaining two 4” candle sticks and glued them top to top and then I glued the second 4” rocks glass to the “top” of the second candle stick (which is actually the bottom) and that gave me the taller candle holder.
I think I spent about 2 hours from start to finish on this project and I love the way they turned out. You can totally do this the same day as a party to have a beautiful center piece candle scape. Think of all the cool things you can put around it in a center piece: flowers, seashells and sand, braches. Put them on an old mirror in the center of the table and fill in other things around them and marvel at the warm reflected candle light! Try it out for your self. Don’t forget to send me a comment below to let me know how yours turned out. Happy diy Sunday!
Michael is Principal designer and blogger at Michael Helwig Interiors in beautiful Buffalo, New York. Since 2011, he’s a space planning expert, offering online interior e-design services for folks living in small homes, or for those with awkward and tricky layouts. He’s a frequent expert contributor to many National media publications and news outlets on topics related to decorating, interior design, diy projects, and more. Michael happily shares his experience to help folks avoid expensive mistakes and decorating disappointments. You can follow him on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook @interiorsmh.
