DIY - Glass Stencilled Jam Jars

This happy blogger received a huge box filled with Plaid's new range of Martha Stewart glass paints and accessories which you can find in Michael's for a future campaign in October. But I wanted to get going right away in familiarising myself with the product and make something useful at the same time. What's better then a jam jar?! We all probably have a couple stashed away for recycling, storage or jam making and I've always had a couple in the bathroom storing those little odds and ends. But they were always a little drab and well, plain. Here's how I went about adding some colour.

I decided to decorate my recycled jam jars using the lacy doily silkscreen stencils - one of a doily and another a butterfly. I haven't done any silk screening since high school or any stencil work for so long that the idea of it was a little daunting. But the screen prints have an adhesive backing which hold the design in place against the glass and I was happily surprised at just how easy they were to apply and use.

To make your own stenciled jam jar designs you'll need;

Martha Stewart glass silkscreen in doily lace
Martha Stewart glass handled squeegees set

Martha Stewart multi-surface satin acrylic craft paint - I used Geranium ]
Jam jars

You need your jam jar to be nice and clean, you can remove that stubborn sticky label residue with a thorough wash or with rubbing alcohol. Either way it needs to be completely dry. Cutting out your chosen stencil, removing it from the backing paper carefully position it on your jam jar, smoothing out to the edges. Press so it adheres well - it can be a little tricky with any vertical curves in the jar so you might have to use some tape to hold in place.

Taking your chosen colour of the Martha Stewart multi-surface paint, run a small amount along the top of the silkscreen. With your squeegee drag down and across until the design is covered. As soon as your done, remove the stencil while it's drying and wash straight away as to not damage the mesh from any dried paint remains.

After you've removed your silkscreen it'll look something the above image. It dries in a good 30 minutes but you still need to "cure" your design which will preserve it. Instructions on the paint bottle indicated it required to be cured for 30 minutes in a 350F oven. Then your jars are free to do as you will - I placed ours on one of the bathroom shelves and refilled one with cotton wool and the smaller jar with hair ties. Overall it was really good fun [which to me is one of the important things about making anything] and it was super quick to get your results, additionally the silkscreens provide some gorgeous designs. I love how eye catching and powerfully bright the red is - which matches perfectly with our bath towels and mats.

Have you ever painted on glass? Would this be something you'd like to do?