Painting on Jars with Glass Stain

If you visit Pinterest on a regular basis, you know there’s no shortage of ideas for painting on jars. I had experimented with glass stain paint before when I made this Beach Flag Sun Catcher.

These paints give a similar result to the much more expensive and tricky process of doing stained glass. But this time I wanted to try something a little different and see how these paints performed when used in a way that was other than instructed.

One of my favorite aspects of these glass stains is that they dry transparent but don’t lose their gorgeous colors.

Doing a stained glass type design on a jar would take forever due to the drying time needed for the glass stains. Because a jar is rounded, you would have to do one small piece at a time over a series of quite a few days. So instead, I experimented with some rough brushing.

I really love how pretty they turned out. They are truly lovely in a window with the light shining through them! You could use them in various ways, such as:

• vases for pretty flowers you’ve picked
• fill them with plastic utensils for a summer barbecue
• lovely luminaries in your garden
• use them in your craft room to hold buttons, beads and more

Painting on Jars with Glass Stain

Note: some links below are affiliate links. That means if you happen to buy something, a small percentage of that sale goes back into this site, which enables me to continue to bring you free tutorials such as this one. So, thanks!

As always, a full printable supply list and instructions are at the end of this post.
For this project you will need the following supplies:

• DecoArt Glass Stain in colors of your choice
• Recycled jars (jelly, mayonnaise, etc)

The glass stains come in quite a few colors, so let your imagination and creativity run wild!

It’s not technical. I just kind of slapped the stain on the jar with a paintbrush, not truly smoothing it out or taking any care with the design. I wiped excess back and forth with the brush until it took on a slightly tacky feel.

Then I used another color and (again, roughly) added a few patches of alternating color.

After a 24-hour drying period I am happy to report that I think they came out beautiful!

If you give this project a go, I’d love to hear about it! Hope you can glean some inspiration from this post.

One of my favorite projects using these glass stains was this Faux Stained Glass Mosaic Luminary. It lives in my living room and is still as beautiful as it was a year ago when I originally made it.

If you would like a quick demonstration on how to use these fun glass stain paints, check out this video from DecoArt!

Print Project

5 from 1 vote

Painting on Jars with Glass Stain

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Crafting Time1 day d

Total Time1 day d 20 minutes mins

Supplies

• DecoArt Glass Stain in colors of your choice
• Recycled jars jelly, mayonnaise, etc

Instructions

• Paint the stain onto the jar with a paintbrush, not truly smoothing it out or taking any care with the design. Wipe the excess back and forth with the brush until it takes on a slightly tacky feel.
• Use another color and (again, roughly) add a few patches of alternating color.
• That's truly all their is to it. Allow them to dry 24-hours before using.