Old Junk Jar = New Flower Vase

Hey All,

I have been so inspired the past couple days ! I really wanted to try out this new Gloss clear sealant that I purchased today, so I decided to paint something as a test. So, I rummaged through my fridge, so sure that I would find an old jar of some condiment that no one has touched for probably a decade (gross , i know ) ... but I did manage to find an old salsa jar !! So I washed it out, scrubbed the label and glue off, and started my project. I really wanted to do something bright and summery , so I was really inspired looking through some photos of Dia de lost Muertos , which is the Day of the Dead festival of Mexico. It actually starts in November, but the colors are just amazing. I also used an image of Frida Kahlo, who was a Mexican Painter. Her work is just so bright and colorful!

How I did it:

I painted the vase in Liquitex Acrylic/Folk Art paint, and I mixed my own color out of Folk Art's Warm White #988, Liquitex Pthalo Green (Blue Shade), & Cerulean Blue. I did one coat, let it dry, then did another coat. After the paint was dry, I printed out a picture of Frida onto regular computer white paper. I cut the picture out, and coated the back with Mod Podge Gloss Lustre. I then centered it on my vase and smoothed the edges from the center, out. Once my image was glued in place, I went over the whole paper image with more Mod Podge Gloss. As I was letting that dry, I had little rhinestones I placed around the flowers in her hair, and a green rhinestone for the gem in her necklace. I then started to paint the Pink and Gold accents. I used Liquitex Acrylic Light Portrait Pink, and Folk Art's Pure Gold #871. I also did some foliage with a small round brush #6. I used Liquitex Phthalo Green for the foliage. After I did all the painting , I let that all dry. I then went outside to try out my new Gloss Clear Spray by Rust-oleum Painter's Touch. It took about 20 minutes to dry to the touch... but I left it out in the hot sun for awhile. Soon after it was dry, I couldn't wait to try it out with some foliage, so I gathered some flowers from around my yard. I hope this inspires you to create your own vase out of an old used jar !!

Also I had an extra picture lying around , and also a plastic cup. I used pretty much the same method as I did for the jar as far as doing 2 coats of paint, and letting it dry before I proceed to put the image on. But everything else was pretty much the same. For the cup I used Liquitex Acrylic Cadmium Yellow Medium. I also did a coat of Mod Podge over the the whole cup, and didn't bother with the Clear Gloss Spray , since it was just a plastic cup. As the Mod Podge glue was drying, I added some little silver holographic confetti stars, to give it a bit of shine ! I think it came out really nice and summery! It is very ideal to use as a planter for a flower!!