{DIY} Mercury Glass Bottle Lamp
Back when I made the bottle lamps, I made 2 versions. Two of the lamps had holes drilled into the bottom for the cord to feed through {pictured above}. The other lamp did not have a hole- the cord fed straight out of the light bulb holder.
In order for the light bulb holder contraption {technical term} to stay on the bottle I had to line the bottle with some super glue. No big deal. For the bottles with the hole....
A couple of days later I noticed that the bottle without the hole did not turn out so well. The super glue created a smoky film on the inside of the bottle. Unfortunately the film was streaky and strange looking so I decided to cover it up with a layer of mercury glass spray paint.
I had heard that mercury glass spray paint was a bit difficult to work with, so Mom and I tested an old salsa jar first. We were pleased!
The trick to mercury glass is a spray bottle of water and vinegar!
1. Spray an even layer of mercury glass spray paint onto the glass {not pictured}
2. Immediately after, spritz the glass with a mixture of vinegar and water through a spray bottle {pictured above}. In addition to using a spray bottle- you may want to flick some of the vinegar/water mixture onto the bottle for larger bubble spots that will show up better.
3. Let the mixture sit for a bit {1 minute-ish}- it will mostly bubble on the surface of the glass. Some may streak down, we call that 'character'.
4. Gently dab the vinegar/water bubbles with a paper towel to pop the bubbles
5. Repeat the process once more for a darker color and more bubbles
The finished product!
See the texture and different color shades? So neat!
P.S. I found that the 'standard' light bulb holder fixture and a 'standard' lamp shade actually don't fit together. After a short burst of mega frustration I headed to Lowe's for a solution. In the 'specialty hardware' section {the drawers in the screw/washer aisle} there are some 3/8 rubber grommets that can slide onto the fixture and allow the lamp shade to lay flat! Problem solved!
Thanks for the comments on my original bottle lamp post and to Knock Off Decor for featuring my post!
Happy Bottle Lamp Making!
This is a pretty great post. I've been thinking of starting a blog on this subject myself. Any tips or anything you would recommend me to avoid?
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