Horror Made crafts? Yes! Why? Because my friends, one of my super powers is making something simple look like something baller.

Thanks to my years of painting sets for theater and making props for film I feel I can successfully share my knowledge with you to help you make cool things for your home. Or set. You could be a clever indie filmmaker too. Either way; Welcome! ^.^

Last week I posted my Apothecary Dreamland look-book and mentioned that I’d be teaching you how to make some DIY apothecary jars. Well, I found my favorite looks from various tutorials and combined a bunch into the one technique I’m sharing here with you.

To get you started, here’s the tutorial video I created:

DIY Antique Mercury Glass Apothecary Jars

Try saying that one 10 times fast…

Materials:

1. Glass jar with lid (mine was from almond butter)
2. Dollar store glass candle stick
3. Fancy looking door pull (The one I used was from Home Depot)
4.  Liquid nails “Perfect Glue”
5. Masking tape
6. Hammered Metal spray paint (multi-surface)
7. 1 cup white vinegar
8. 1 cup water
9. spray bottle
10. paper towels
11. Mirror Effects spray paint
12. black acrylic paint
13. paint brush
14. rubber gloves

Stage 1: Glue things to other things

You’ll need: Glass Jar, Lid, Glass candle stick, Door pull, “Perfect Glue”, Time

1. Glue the candlestick to the bottom of your jar
2. Glue the door pull to the lid of your jar
3. let it sit for 2-8 hours while you go do something nefarious (“Perfect Glue is actually an epoxy so it can stick anything together, but it takes time for it to cure)

Stage 2: Paint the Lid

You’ll need: masking tape, hammered metal spray paint, rubber or latex gloves, your newly glued together jar lid.

*Pro Tip from Production Designer Layla Calo-Baird (Who helped me out with this tutorial): when spray-painting with hammered metal paint you’ll need at least two coats for it to be even, because the paint bubbles and shows the underlayer.

1. wrap the door pull on your new jar lid with masking tape.
2. Cover up you hands with rubber or latex gloves. Spray paint is a pain to get off your skin.
3. Spray paint your jar lid
   1. For the best results keep the spray at 6″-8″ away from the lid while spraying
   2. spray in layers
4. Leave it to dry

Stage 3: Faux Mercury Glass the Jar

You’ll need: your freshly reinvented jar, Mirror Effects spray paint, white vinegar, water, spray bottle, paper towels, rubber gloves

1. Put on your gloves
2. Mix 1 cup white vinegar with 1 cup water into your spray bottle
3. set your spray bottle to “mist” not stream
4. Mist your jar all over with white vinegar
5. Spray the Mirror Effects paint from at least 8″ away onto your jar in short bursts. You should see the paint coating the bubbles of vinegar
6. Dab the paint with your paper towels
7. Repeat steps 4 -6 until your jar looks good and shiny
8. Let that puppy dry while you admire your work thus far. I’d say pat yourself on the back, but then you’d end up smelling like vinegar and getting a big ol’ mirror hand print on your shoulder so…

Stage 4: Grunge it all up

You’ll need: your jar, lid, paint brush, black acrylic paint, paper towel

1. smear black paint into all of the grooves and edges of your jar and lid
2. immediately dab off some of the paint with a piece of paper towel
3. once it looks good and grungy, screw the lid onto the jar
4. snap a picture and #horrormade so I can see your beautiful work!
5. Enjoy!

I know this was a long tutorial, but you’re clever AF so I wanted to bring you something a few steps further into my world of expertise. I.E. prop design.