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Raf & Erica Welcome to our goofy life…

DIY

Upcycling UGLY Vases into THE MOST BEAUTIFUL Home Decor

30 November 2020

We needed decor for the house, and I was thinking about how I could do this the DIY and more affordable way…. so, I decided I wanted to paint vases.

Go browse Anthropologie or even Homegoods and any of these vases would easily cost you $20-$60! Like ONE of these for $28, don’t get me wrong, they are beautiful and a great option if you don’t want to DIY! But I got 12 vases for a grand total of $40 ish dollars!

We went to a few local thrift stores and found various shaped and sized vases for $1 to $8 for the largest ones.

I then posted about the vases and my friend Bethany asked, “Are you doing the TikTok Clay vases with baking powder?”

“…come again?” I had never heard of this.

She then shared the tutorial and I figured I would try it for all of us!

So, I will share 2 different ways to upcycle vases depending on your desired final look.

What You’ll Need:

  • Vases – Get to thrifting! Or you can find some cute cheapish ones at Walmart.
  • Self Etching Primer – $5.28 – This is to make sure that the paint sticks to the smooth surface of the glass.
  • Craft Paint – $0.89 – I used Anitas, but you can use any ACRYLIC CRAFT PAINT.
  • Foam Brushes – $0.68 – Get a few of these, so you have one for each color you do. They are reusable too.
  • Clear Coat – $4.27 – See Step 3

Step 1: Clean Vase & Prep with Self Etching Primer

If the vase is dirty, clean it off. Kind of obvious, but it does make a difference. Don’t skip this step.

The self etching primer is something I used in my DIY Hardware project and it allows paint to stick to smooth surfaces. There was definitly a vase I didn’t do this well on, and the paint kept coming off. So this is VERY important!

  1. Spray the entire vase with a thin coat of self etching primer
  2. Allow to dry 1 hour or to the touch

Step 2: Paint!

This is where the magic happens! I had to paint 2-3 coats on each vase to get the desired look.

  • The foam brushes really are the best to give a finished look and no brush strokes.
  • Get creative, I mixed colors to create my own custom color. I suggest grabbing a white and black to help mix and lighten, darken a color.
  • I also painted the inside with straight paint.

Now here is where the way you paint determines your final look… See the 2 methods you can use to get the desired look as pictured.

See how the one on the left is smooth, and the one on the right is rough? The right is #1 and the left is using method #2 with a lot of baking powder.

1. For a smooth matte finish:

You won’t use any – very little baking powder

2. For a Clay or Rough finnish:

You will use baking powder – NOT BAKING SODA, BAKING POWDER

Step 3: Clear Coat

You don’t necessarily need to do this step if you like the end product. I did on some, and didn’t on others. I will say for $5 a can, it can protect from dings and scratches, so I think it is worth it.

Personally I am really digging the matte look, and it is super trendy right now!

There are a few different finishes you can do too!

  • Matte / Flat
  • Gloss
  • Satin /Low Luster

Step 4: Add in some Stems!

I love the vases empty or with a branch in the tallest one.

You can find a ton of great stems here. Ranging from $1 – $30 ish.

baking powder vases baking soda vases clay vases diy diy home decor diy vases

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