DIY Blue Mason Jars

How to make Mason Jars into beautiful vases

{using only Mod Podge & food coloring!}
Yesterday I attempted my first craft: blue mason jars!  It was super easy and only took about a half hour, 20 minutes of which you can walk around just waiting for them to be done in the oven.  These turned out great and I placed some colorful fabric flowers in them to help brighten up the room in the winter.  I brought one to a breakfast program for those in need that I serve at this morning..they make really nice gifts!

Trust me; if I can do this, so can you!

What you'll need:

• Mason jars {or any glass jars should work}
• Food coloring in desired colors
• Mod Podge
• Newspaper/cardboard surface 
• A bowl for mixing

How to:

1.) Put down newspaper or something thick {cardboard} to protect the surface that you are working on.  Get your mason jars or clear jars out and pour about a 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of Mod Podge into either a bowl or one of the jars. This should last you more than one jar -- I did 3 in different sizes, and it would probably do about 4 regular mason jars.

2.) In your bowl or jar, add about two teaspoons of water. Add food coloring {I used 3 drops blue and 2 drops green} and mix well. I personally added some more Mod Podge to thicken the paste.  

3.) Swirl around in the jar until the jar is completely coated and then pour the remainder into your next jar. Repeat this on all of your jars. You want to get the majority of the paste out of the jar, so turn over so you don’t end up with a puddle in the bottom. Make sure to move the jars around some so they don't stick in one spot {Mod Podge is like glue}..see all the lovely rings left by my jars in the pictures below!

4.) Once fully drained, tuen the jars right-side up and place jars in the oven to the lowest setting, for me this was 175. Having it on the lowest setting will reduce the chance of breakage. Bake for about 20 minutes to set the mixture. 

I let my jars stay in the oven just until they cooled down, then removed them.  In the pictures about, the bottom center picture was taken at the start, whereas the bottom right picture was taken about 10 minutes into the process.  If the jars aren't looking the way you'd like, keep them in there a bit longer!

At the end you'll end up with beautiful jars that would normally cost over $10 and can be used as cute vases or decorative items.  I do not suggest keeping food or drink in these glasses, and have heard that you cannot put water in them due to the food dye {this means fake flowers only!}.  If you'd like to use them for real flowers, use Vitrea 160 for the coloring {glass paint}. 

These jars and bright flowers cheer up the room even with a snowfall outside! 

I added a bow made of twine to these as well.  Makes a cute touch!

 As always, any questions or comments are more than welcome.  Happy crafting and good luck with this project!

xo