Using DecoArt’s Pouring Medium and acrylic paint, you too can easily upcycle a clear glass container into a DIY Faux Marble Vase. The end result looks like an expensive home decor accessory, but really it’s just the magic of experimenting with paint.
I first did this technique back in the spring on a glass candle I wanted to upcycle. There are videos of my experiments saved on my Instagram account in my “highlighted stories”. I know it looks like a complicated craft project, but I promise no skill is needed. You simply mix the paint with the pouring medium, layer the paint in a cup and then pour over your container. It’s a perfect craft for kids or even a craft night where attendees aren’t “crafty”.
This is NOT a sponsored post and I don’t usually indorse a specific brand, but I tried this technique with two different pouring mediums and the DecoArt Pouring Medium worked far better than the other brand. Not only did the DecoArt vase have a better marble look, the finish was also a lot smoother. I highly recommend finding the DecoArt brand for this project.
Before working on your “final” vase, I suggest practicing on a glass jar or other glass container. This allows you to see how your colors blend together as well as experiment with adding more and less pouring medium to your paint.
Materials
- Clear glass container or vase
- DecoArt’s Pouring Medium
- Acrylic Paint (at least 3 colors, I used Martha Stewart Seaweed, Wild Blueberry, and Caribean Blue)
- Throwaway tray
- Plastic cup or paper towel roll with a piece of foam (something that fits inside the opening of your glass container)
- Popsicle stick or plastic knife
- Plastic spoon
- Plastic cups
Instructions
Prep your vase. Start by elevating your glass container above your throwaway tray. Create a “stand” for your vase using an object that fits inside the opening of your container. It could be a plastic cup or in this case, I stuck a paper towel roll into a piece of foam. I then placed the vase face-down on the paper towel roll so it was elevated above the tray. This prevents your vase from sitting in a puddle of paint.
Note: I also wrapped the foam in foil so I wouldn’t ruin the floral foam, but it’s not necessary.
Mix your paint. Using the DecorArt Pouring Medium and acyrilc paint, mix at least three colors in separate cups. For a subtle but pretty marble effect, start with the same color for all three colors and then create a darker and lighter shade. As for ratio of paint to pouring medium, it’s about 1 part paint to 2-3 parts pouring medium. You’re looking for the consistency of pancake batter. Loosly follow the instructions on the DecoArt Pouring Medium bottle, but I found it needed a little more pouring medium. The paint should drip smoothly from the mixing spoon.
Layer paint for pouring. In another plastic cup, pour a little of one color into the cup. Then layer in the other two colors on top. Repeat 1 or 2 times. Note: Do NOT stir the paint, you want to see the layers.
Pour paint over vase. Now the fun begins! Pour the paint onto the base of your container. Some paint may start dripping over the edge, but you’ll also need to “push” the paint over the edge using the straight edge of a popsicle stick or plastic knife. You’ll keep pouring and “pushing” the paint until you’ve covered your whole container. (Note: I also continued to mix and layer my paint in my cup as I needed more.)
Keep in mind that the paint takes a while to drip onto all areas of the vase. In fact, the paint will continue to drip even as it’s drying. During this time, check your container periodically to wipe away any drips from the lip of your vase using your popcicle stick or plastic knife.
Let the paint dry overnight before removing your vase from it’s stand.
I love this look for fall. I think the cool teal colors of the DIY vase perfectly offset the traditional warm fall tones of the flowers. For the how-to for this arrangement see my Faux Fall Flower Arrangement Tutorial.
To date, I’ve made a few DIY Faux Marble Vases and clearly love the look of the teal/green marble; however, you can experiment with other colors as well. I’ll try to follow up with pictures of other colors I’ve done, but until then I’d love to see what you create. So if you make your own DIY Faux Marble Vase, please direct message (DM) me at @tonalitydesigns.
