DIY Painted Vase

We're trying something a little different this week, so please bear with me. Regular bookish posts will resume next Friday. But for now, we're going to be a little crafty.

I've wanted a painted jar vase for my windowsill for about a month or so now, but I'm also broke and and unwilling to pay for one. So I had the brilliant idea of creating my own, seeing as how we have empty candle jars coming out of our ears. Once you have everything that you need, it's really quite simple to make your painted vase.

You will need:

• Clean, empty jar
• Paint (I used wall paint)
• Paintbrushes
• Newspaper
• Knife (if you use paint in a tin)

Process

• Lay out the newspaper and all of the equipment you need.
• Ensure your jar is clean and dry before painting. I'd also recommend you check the glass will take the paint before really getting stuck in. A good place to test would be near the bottom.
• Give your jar a first coat on the outside and around the inner lip.
• When that's started to dry, give it another coat or top up any streaky patches.
• You may need to paint the inside (which is tricky) if you can see it, or see light coming through the paint.
• One you're happy with how many coats, leave it to dry over night.
• Decorate and fill however you wish.

I gave mine two coats and touched up any streaky patches to ensure that everywhere was covered. It was difficult to paint the inside while the outside was still wet, so I'd keep that in mind. You can still see brushstrokes in the paint even though it's dried, but I don't mind that. It adds a homemade feel to it, as well as making it unique. 

I apologise for the lack of pictures, I only had the bright idea to turn this into a blog post when I was half way through. I hope you get the general gist of things, and that it maybe inspires you to do something creative!