How to Make a Painted Vase
I am about to show you an easy and inexpensive way to make a really beautiful decor piece for your home, that you can customize in whatever colour works for you!I have been experimenting with fluid art projects in the last few months. I did a paint pour and I have done quite a few alcohol ink projects, including tile coasters, and these bowls that you really need to check out, because they are fabulous! This project is an acrylic paint pour that is done on a dollar store vase, to make a beautiful painted vase. It really does make a pretty boring vase into something kind of special.
Painted Vase Supplies
Supplies you will need for this project
Glass Vase (dollar store)
Craft paints (dollar store)
Floetrol 
Canvas (dollar store)
Squeeze Bottles
Digital Scale
Clear Gloss Sealer
Step One: Mix your paints
I have done a few fluid paint projects, so I already had a container of pre-mixed paints in my closet ready to go. But you might need to mix some up. So here is how you do that. Start with a Digital Scale, place an empty squeeze bottle on the scale and reset to zero. You could use a plastic container if you don’t have squeeze bottles, but the squeeze bottles make the painting process easier to control. First add 80 grams of floetrol, (note that you may need to sieve any lumps out of the fleotrol) then reset to zero, next add 40 grams of paint, reset to zero, then add 30 grams of water. Cap off your paint and shake well to mix. Mix up as many colours as you want to use for your painted vase. If you want to see this on video click here.
Prepare your work area
First and foremost, you should definitely cover your work area with a plastic drop cloth. I buy mine at the dollar store. they are really large and I cut them to the size of my work table and get a few covers out of each package. Paint mixed with floetrol is very runny and takes a bit of time to dry. So, it’s best if you can just fold up the plastic drop cloth when you are all finished, and save your table or counter. Clean your vase. Just wash and dry it well. The idea behind this process is that you put a canvas underneath your vase, so that all of the paint that drips or pours off of the vase will land on the canvas, and then you can make an abstract painting with all of that left over paint.
Support your Canvas
You will also need something to support your canvas, so that the vase stays upright. I used a scrap piece of wood (2″x 10″x 5″) that was higher than the canvas, so that the canvas isn’t touching the table. This allowed me to turn the vase while I was painting.
Note that this was taken after pouring was completed. While pouring the vase was sitting on the canvas.
Support your Vase
Using something that fits inside the vase but keeps it lifted off of the canvas. Depending on what size of vase you have, a plastic cup or empty container will work well. I used an empty floetrol container for this one, because that is what I had on hand. If you use a container that doesn’t allow the vase to touch it’s sides, you will avoid getting the drip marks on the top rim of your vase.
Start Pouring
Give all of your chosen paint colours a good shake and then just start pouring the paint, straight from the squeeze bottles. This is what is known as a clean pour, because the colours are poured separately instead of being all mixed together in one cup, which is what is known as a dirty pour. I used the following colours for this pour:
White
Silver
Turquoise (Apple Barrel)
Turquoise (DecoArt) – More of a mint green
Admiral Blue
Just keep squeezing/pouring on colours until the vase is covered to your satisfaction. The piece of wood underneath allows me to turn the canvas.
Here is a quick peak at what the process looks like
If you want to watch the YouTube video in its entirety, click here.
Serendipity
Originally, it was my intention to cover the entire vase with paint. However, I liked the effect that was happening with the sections of glass that were left uncovered by paint, so I decided to leave it like that. Sometimes the things that happen fortuitously are the best.
Once you have acheived the desired effect with your colours and finish of your painted vase, then give it a few minutes to let most of the paint drip off onto the canvas underneath. Once most of the dripping is complete, in about 5 minutes, move your vase to a location to dry. Make sure that you do not touch the painted surface of the vase. You will want to hold it by the support and make sure you do not smudge the paint. It will need to rest somewhere that it can continue to drip, like on a piece of plastic, tin foil, or a cookie sheet or lid. Paint that has floetrol in it takes a bit longer to dry than regular paint.
Now Let’s Make a painting
You see why it’s a good thing that there is a plastic drop cloth underneath this 🙂
Part two of this project is to make a painting with all of the paint that was dripped/poured onto the canvas while you were pouring your vase. For my painting I added a bit more colour, using the squirt bottles. After that it’s just a matter of angling the canvas until the entire surface is covered in paint. If you are having trouble getting the edges covered, just use a stir stick to pull the paint to the edges of the canvas and then the paint will flow over it. I use bamboo skewers for stir sticks that I buy at the dollar store. Best little paint mixing sticks out there 🙂
Let it Dry
Depending on the heat and humidity it may dry in a few hours. Although, I would suggest leaving it overnight before handling the vase and the painting to be safe. Be a bit careful when handling the finished vase, as it is possible to scratch it.
Add a coat of Sealer
Once it is fully dry, you will want to give it a coat of Clear Gloss Sealer to make the colours pop. Here is the difference before and after gloss coat. I did 2 – 3 spray coats. As always with any spray paint, go with short passes to avoid drips.
Just Add Flowers
Let it dry and fill it with flowers or just use it as a decor piece. I was really happy with how this turned out and I anticipate I will be trying more variations of this technique in the future. Here are some more shots from a few different angles
The other thing that I really love about this, is because there are different thicknesses of paint on the vase, because of the way it was poured, it gives it a really interesting look when it is backlit.
Even the bottom is beautiful
And that Ladies and Gentlemen is how you make a dollar store vase into a very beautiful decor piece. Make them for yourself, for gifts or for sale!
Now that you have all of your paints mixed up, check out this project!
And if you like these posts, consider checking to my YouTube channel
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