Tag Archives: china

How to Decorate a Wine or Martini Glass

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One way to completely personalize a party is to paint the martini glasses. The possibilities for creating themed glasses are practically endless. You can paint them with the theme of the night, such as a pumpkin for Halloween, with the names of a bride and groom or you can paint them to match your china.

The first thing you need to do is completely clean the glasses. Wipe them with a paper towel that is soaked in alcohol and let the glass air dry. It is best to use brand new glasses as older ones sometimes have residues on them that prevent paint from sticking to thesurface. Make sure the glass is big enough to paint on in the first place!

There are many different paints you can buy to use for this project including both opaque and transparent paints. You can also get paint that gives glass a frosted or spackled effect. You can get very creative as glass paints come in every color imaginable. If you are not good with a brush you can also buy markers that contain glass paint that can do a good job. The markers are especially good if you want to create detailed designs with a lot of intricate touches.

If you are talented, just go ahead and paint an image on the glass free-hand. You can also use a pattern or a stencil on glass. Simply tape the design you want to use on the inside of the glass and then just paint the outside of the glass as the pattern shows.

You usually have to bake the paint on the glass. You put your finished glasses in the oven and heat to the temperature advised by the paint company. Once the glasses are done having the image sealed into the glass by the oven heat you take them out of the oven and let them air dry. Note that you do not have to do this but using bake-on paint allows the glass to be used in the dishwasher and survive daily wear and tear for a longer time. However for best results you should always hand wash the glasses carefully which will help preserve the design.

There are several different paints you can buy that allow you to be very creative. Opaque paint doesn’t allow light to pass through it, but transparent paints do. You can also get paint that makes the glass look frosted or crackled. Glass paints come in every color of the rainbow–and considering that a little goes a long way, you’ll have plenty of paint to experiment with on other projects. You can also buy glass paint markers that allow you to letter or make intricate designs.

Most paints are water-based and are easily cleaned off of your brushes, skin and other places with a little soap and water.

How to Decorate With Clever Recycled Flower Vases

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If you really want to liven up a home during the winter months then be sure to have plenty of flowered plants around. Flowers in recycled items that are used as pots are a trendy and eco-savvy way to keep your home blooming with cheer.

For an elegant tall vase cut the top of off a metal olive oil can using a can opener and then place some white poinsettias in it. It is simple to keep the poinsettias in their original tiny pots and just tuck them inside the can. These cans have pleasant looking retro labels as well as a beautiful gold metal color that allows them to be used as holders for your favorite blossoms all year long.

You can also use old china chafing and serving dishes as the foundation for potted plants. Tiny pink hellebores and African violets look amazing potted in this type of antique dish. Blue and white or red and white china, the type that is so plentiful at flea markets, is perfect for this purpose.

For a look that tells others that you care about recycling try wrapping a shoe box in newsprint and then placing potted plants inside. A large paper lilly looks great in this type of home-made planter. The old fashioned method of applying layers of Aqua-Tec and tissue paper to a box to make it look fancy is also very contemporary looking.

You can take any type of pot or package and wind rope, ribbon or fabric remnants around it to create a planter. Simply wrap the carton or box with the fabric the same way you would a present and tie a bow in front. This type of planter makes a very clever and attractive gift.

Old garden pots or even metal cans are easily spraypainted gold, white or silver. These look nice decorated with cords of pearls, stickers or cut-out letters from the craft store.

Old china is another option. Many plants look great simply potted inside an old China teapot. Small ceramic expresso c ups also make charming small planters for succulent plants and small cactuses.

You can find things that can be used in an eco-concious way to make planters everywhere in yoru home and in your yard. Anything that was once a vessel can be turned into one and this includes old Jell-O molds, copper pots and grocery packaging. Old newspapers, wrapping paper and fabric scraps can also be used to decorate these planters.