DIY Rustic Vase

I told my mom I would decorate her fireplace mantel in her new house. They already have a mirror they are going to hang over the mantel so I want to find something to go on either side of the mirror and I’d like a vase to be one of those things. My mom is interested in decorating the house with pops of blue – mainly turquoise and other shades of blue so I am looking for a vase that incorporates those colors. Last week I saw a rustic-looking vase at a store that I really liked and thought it would look good in my parents’ new house but it was $80!

So a few days later I found a large and heavy vase at Goodwill for $7.99. It was a shiny purple and made mainly of glass. I decided to buy it and try to turn it in to an antique, rustic looking vase that incorporates the colors she wants. I thought it would be fun and easy. It turned out to be really difficult and only kind of fun.

This was a lot of trial and error. There were so many steps that I don’t think I’d be able to replicate this look very easily. But I am pretty happy with how it turned out in the end.

Here is what the vase looked like before:

I started by grabbing a tub of spackling that we already had – the kind you use to fill holes in dry wall. I put on a pair of disposable gloves and scooped the spackling out of the tub and spread it all over the vase. I used my fingers to create texture in the form of horizontal lines in the vase.

I let that dry overnight and then I took it outside the next morning and sanded it with a 220 grit sandpaper just to get the rough spots smoothed out.

Then I painted the vase all over with a dark blue (still water by sherwin williams) with a paint brush and let that dry. I wanted the vase to have a darker base color.

Next I used a Popsicle stick to mix together equal parts baking soda and a turquoise paint (bubble turquoise by Behr). The baking soda thickens the paint so that I can add more texture to the vase. Once the baking soda and paint were mixed, I used a sponge to dab color on to most, but not all, of the vase. I wanted to make sure I left the rivets, or deep parts of the vase, the darker blue color. Then I allowed the paint to dry.

I wasn’t sure what to do next but I thought the vase needed a lighter color to brighten it up so I mixed equal parts baking soda and a light gray color (silver bullet by Behr) and used a sponge to add some lighter color to the vase.

I wasn’t super happy with this and I thought it needed something else so I went to the store and bought some metallic paints. Using a paper towel, I applied a thin layer of a darker gold paint to parts of the vase and then wiped off with a dry paper towel where I didn’t want any gold. Once it dried, I took the vase outside and sanded it with a 220 grit sandpaper to give it a more cohesive and rustic look.

At this point, I thought the vase looked interesting but also kind of ugly and too busy. I took the vase outside and tried to sand most of the light gray color off so that the turquoise paint underneath showed through more but that didn’t help it look much better.

So, I decided to apply some brown paint. And by some, I mean a lot. I mixed equal parts of a brown paint color (havana coffee by Behr) with a bronze metallic paint I bought earlier in the day and painted it over the vase. I thought there needed to be some lighter tones so I added in a lighter tan color (camping tent by Behr).

At this point, you probably think I am crazy.

Before the paint dried, I used a dry paper towel to wipe off the brown and tan paint I just applied. This left the dark paint in the crevasses of the vase and added a brown hue to the other parts of the vase.

Then I thought “It looks dirty” and “It needs more blue”. So I used a paint brush and I applied the turquoise paint color again to a majority of the vase. I tried to leave the paint brush as dry as possible so that the paint didn’t go on too heavy.

After that, I let the paint dry and then I lightly sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper. Then I brushed on a layer of satin polycrylic and let that dry (clear spray paint can also be used as a clear coat sealant but it was too cold and windy outside to use spray paint).

Here is how it looks now.

Overall, I am pretty happy with it. We’ll see if my mom likes it and, if so, I’ll add a picture of the vase in her new house with her other decor.

If you’ve refinished a vase or vessel, did you find it easy or difficult?