Make Your Own Mercury Glass Pumpkin

This mercury glass pumpkin makeover is another thrift store transformation that was inspired by the fall PB catalog.

Honestly, I don’t normally get so many ideas from one spot, but this was just one of those catalogs that had me going, “oh- I can find that easy!” or “what a great idea” and so on. And since I was planning for this series…well you see how that turned out.

But really – mercury glass pumpkins are all over that catalog, and it really is easy to find ceramic pumpkins at thrift stores this time of year (along with ceramic turkeys and other holiday items) and lots of folks are using Krylon’s Looking Glass spray paint to make faux mercury glass, so why not get them for a lot less?

Here’s what I started with (and ignore the little plastic green pumpkin – he’s not in the running for a mercury-glass makeover). A two-piece orange ceramic pumpkin that cost $1.99.

It’s not horrible, it’s just a bit boring (plus, I hardly ever do orange in my house – coral, yes, orange…no).

https://anoregoncottage.com/2012/10/make-your-own-mercury-glass-pumpkin/

Enter Krylon’s Looking Glass spray paint.

I’m not gonna lie – this stuff is not super cheap (about $10) and it’s not easy to find. I ended up buying it online from Amazon (my affiliate link is provided if you’d like to buy it there, too). But I was able to paint 5 items with the smaller-than-average-sized can it comes in (only 6 oz.), so it adds only a couple of dollars per project – still WAY cheaper than buying mercury glass.

There are ways to age the finish by using vinegar, but I didn’t want any orange to show through, so I simply sprayed the paint on the outside of the pumpkin. The directions only say to spray on the inside, as they are assuming you’re using it on glass (um, never assume with DIY folks…), but it works on the outside of things and still dries to a mirror finish, as you can tell.

The first couple of coats did run a bit, probably because the pumpkin was really smooth ceramic – but each coat covered up the others and after four light coats, it looked great.

My pumpkin is six inches high and five inches wide, took me about 10 minutes total hands-on time and set me back $4.00. The PB equivalent is $24.50.

Hmmm…now what am I gonna do with the $20.00 I just saved?

Oh, and wouldn’t this make a great gift for those in your lives who are PB or mercury glass fans? And they’ll never guess you didn’t spend a bundle.

This is day 12 in our series (you can click on the button to see all the posts in the category). If you’re wondering what’s up, you can read the introduction to 31 Days of Thrift Store Transformations here. I’m taking a little liberty and using the term “thrift store” to stand for anything you buy used (and cheap!), be it from a store, garage/estate sale, flea market…whatever.

This post is linked to Fabulously Creative Friday, Thistlewoods’ Spray Paint Party and Weekend Wrap-Up.