Sea Glass Bottles

I have always loved the beach and things that are associated with the ocean and seashore. I love to bring out shells, sand, sea glass and photos of past beach vacations to decorate with over the summer. I usually start bringing the items out around Father’s day to accessorize the deck area and then it spills over to the kitchen and family room, entry and where ever else I think it needs a kiss of summer.

Love the frosted colors in Beach Glass:

I decided to start a little project before I bring all things beachy out to decorate with. I had seen something similar on Pinterest and started to experiment with my version of the Sea Glass or Beach Glass Bottle tinting.

Well here is my take on a tutorial of the process:

You will need :

* Mod Podge (or watered down white glue :3 parts glue to 1 part water)

*food coloring ( I used the neon colors, that’s what I have on hand. )

*dish washing liquid

* sponge paint brush

* clean and dry clear bottles ( I like the shapes of small vinegar, syrup, tabasco sauce, or jars, even canning jars)

That’s it! You probably have that on hand right now.

Cover your work surface with newspaper or a paper sack or whatever you’d like to keep from staining the area.

Now for the mixing:

I poured a little of the Mod Podge in a bowl. Then added 3 drops of the blue food coloring and 1 drop of green to get the aqua color I was going for. You can mix whatever color you want, there are no rules . I then added a few drops of dish soap. I think it may help it become frosted and not clear, and it also helps make clean up easier.  I was going for beach glass I didn’t want just a tinted glass like some of the blue mason glass tutorials. I found adding the dish soap helped that for some reason as well as using Mod Podge Matt Finish.

Then I mixed it all together:

Started applying it:

I like to be able to add fresh flowers to the container so I opted for coloring the outside of the bottle, so water could be added inside if desired. I gave it an even coat , then let it dry. It you want more intense color add 2-3 coats allowing it to dry in between each coat.

Drying:

 There are a few subtle streaks sometimes, I didn’t mind them. It may depend on how thick the mod podge/ glue mixture is and also the surface of the glass. I had some with slight streaks and others with none at all using the same mixture. If you don’t like the results, wash it off and try again

Since this is a temporary color project, it washes off easily if you aren’t satisfied with it or just want to use it a while and then change the color for a different look.

I am giving my bottles a coat of matt varnish to seal it and hope that will allow me to use it a while without the color chipping off . If you don’t put a sealer over it , it will wash right off.

I had suggested a liquid matt varnish, however some readers had trouble with it removing the mod podge mixture. So I have used this product with great success, Krylon Matt Finish.

This is how mine turned out:

Let me know if  you give it a try and how it works for you. Always apprecitate good feedback and helpful advice.

Let’s get BEACHY!

Linda

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