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Blue Mason Jar Vases: painted and distressed!

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Blue Mason Jar Vases: painted and distressed! (tutorial)

I love painting mason jars, but it occurred to me that I’ve never tried to paint the blue glass Ball mason jars. What would a distressed paint finish look like over the blue glass?

When the blue anniversary jars first arrived on store shelves last Summer, we bought some right away! I was in love with them – read my short post about it here!

Blue Mason Jar Vases: painted and distressed! (tutorial)
Although I’m in love with the blue glass color, and don’t see a need to cover it up with paint, I wanted to experiment and see what the blue glass might look like showing through the chippy paint finish.
Will you be able to see the actual blue color? Yes, I’m excited to say that you will!
Blue Mason Jar Vases: painted and distressed! (tutorial)
Supplies:
The blue glass mason jars are easily found in many stores. I got mine on Amazon here:

Ball Jar Heritage Collection Pint Jars with Lids and Bands, Set of 6 (affiliate link)

I chose my favorite Chalky Finish paint for this project, and purposely picked out two colors that will work now and easily transition into the Fall season as well: Inheritance (a pretty golden-mustard yellow blend) and New Life (a color that reminds me of fresh green grass or green leaves).
I decided I would keep embellishments to a minimum. Maybe just some vintage lace trim. I have quite a stash I’ve collected over the years, and was thrilled to find two colors that were an almost perfect match with the paints!
Blue Mason Jar Vases: painted and distressed! (tutorial)
First I painted two coats of paint onto each jar and let them dry upside down. The Chalky Finish paint dries super fast, so this step went quickly! By the time the third jar was painted, the first jar was dry already and ready for the second coat!
Blue Mason Jar Vases: painted and distressed! (tutorial)
I purposely didn’t paint the tops of the jars – as you can see in the picture above – so that I had something to grab onto easily while painting the jar.
Once the jars were dry, I simply turned them over and put two coats around the top of each jar.
Blue Mason Jar Vases: painted and distressed! (tutorial)
While waiting for them to finish drying, it was time for another cup of tea in my favorite cat mug!
Blue Mason Jar Vases: painted and distressed! (tutorial)
Aliza, our sweet, 20-something kitty, matches the mug!
Aliza, our formerly feral, 20-something kitty!
To get the chippy, distressed paint look, I used a wet sanding sponge. If you’re unfamiliar with using one of these sponges, start out lightly to get a feel for how easily the paint comes off. (Wet sanding is great for indoors, no dust and not much mess compared to regular dry sanding.)
Blue Mason Jar Vases: painted and distressed! (tutorial)

I love how the raised letters stand out when the paint is sanded off of them!  I purposely sanded larger patches off of each jar, so the blue glass can show through. Wipe any residue off with a paper towel.

Blue Mason Jar Vases: painted and distressed! (tutorial)
I added some brown wax to the green jar, and used clear wax on the orange jars, following the directions provided. (It’s simple to put some on with a white rag, then wipe off. You can’t go wrong.) The wax enhances the colors and adds more of a vintage look to the chippy paint finish.
Time to use the jars to display some of our Summer flowers from the garden! I picked a Purple Coneflower and some of our Brown-Eyed Susans.
Blue Mason Jar Vases: painted and distressed! (tutorial)
I love the brightness of the painted jars, yet the colors are also muted. Perfect to show off the Summer blooms!
Blue Mason Jar Vases: painted and distressed! (tutorial)
The blue glass really shows up against these paint colors!
Blue Mason Jar Vases: painted and distressed! (tutorial)
How about you? Could you paint over the blue glass jars?
Personally, I love the look! And perhaps once the flowers are done blooming, I’ll add some battery-operated tea lights inside these. I bet the blue glass will have a nice warm glow in the candlelight.
You can click on these links to see my other painted mason jar tutorials:
Happy crafting!

~Laura

 

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Comments

  1. ZzzonkOwl {All Things Etsy} says

    Great blog! Following you on G+ and I hope you’ll check my “All Things Etsy” blog out 🙂 Thanks!

  4. Jane@Cottage at the Crossroads says

    Laura, your summer flowers look so pretty in your painted Mason jars, and I think they will really be beautiful with the tea lights in them, too. I have been doing a lot of canning this summer and was running low on jars so I had to resort to putting food in my blue and green jars!!!

    • Laura Kuhlmann says

      My husband is just starting to get into canning, and has already “borrowed” some of my lids that go with the blue jars. 😉 Your canning is no doubt looking very stylish!

  5. Katie says

    Thanks for the great tips! I am attempting some jar painting today in hopes of acquiring some new indoor decor. 🙂

    • Laura says

      Oh how much fun I bet this was, Katie! I’m going to pop over to your blog to see if you shared your creations! 🙂

    • Laura says

      Why thank you Kate! You’ve got me thinking now about painting jars in more Fall colors! 🙂

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