DIY Amber Glass Jars

Hello Graphics Fairy friends! I’m Diana from Dreams Factory and I’m happy to be here again to share another DIY project with you! Today I will show you how to make these absolutely gorgeous DIY Amber Glass Jars with a French twist! This can be a great way to recycle all those old jars that you’ve been saving and give them a new, super chic life. We will be using a quite surprising ingredient from our kitchens to tint the glass jars which will allow us to experiment and create the vintage jars of our dreams! Keep in mind these are for Decorative Purposes only.

Safety Note: Do NOT Store Food in these Containers. They are NOT FOOD SAFE.

The best part about this whole let’s-tint-all-the-glass-jars-that-we-can-find experiment is that you can mix all the colors you want according to your preferences. I tinted my jars brown because I wanted to make them more universal and neutral so I could use them all year long, but you can definitely give these a more seasonal vibe if you prefer. You can make different shades of brown, orange and dark green for fall or mix some blue and green to make the perfect sea glass effect for summer, there are so many possibilities here!

The printable that I created for this project includes a few stunning French labels that have a round shape. I thought that these round labels turned out to be the perfect choice for my square-shaped jars, but they will work with any other jars that you have around. I haven’t used these images in any project so far, sometimes I like to challenge myself to use new images to keep things interesting and exciting. That’s a good thing because there are so many options here at The Graphics Fairy that can get your creative juices flowing and allow you to make truly unique DIY projects!

Free Printable:

—-> Click HERE to Download the Full Size Printable PDF <—-

Supply List for DIY Amber Glass Jars:

white cardstock paper or regular paper
home printer
scissors
mini distress inks
blending tool with foams
food coloring (I used the Wilton icing coloring gel in red and green to make brown)
Mod Podge or any white craft glue that dries clear
toothpicks
a small spray bottle with water
brush
mixing palette (I used a plastic plate)
paper towels
a plastic sheet or a non-absorbent surface (to protect your working area)

Tutorial:

The surprising ingredient from our kitchen that will allow us to tint our jar is … food coloring! I used red and green, two colors from the Wilton food coloring icing gel set to make the brown color. I used toothpicks to pick up the food coloring from the small jars just to make sure there was no color contamination.

I used a plastic plate and I started adding and mixing the two food colors in a specific area using another toothpick. Then I added some Mod Podge in a different area and I used a brush to pick some food coloring and just mixed them all together.

The ratios are quite difficult to determine since the food coloring was a gel and not a liquid. But just to give you an idea, I would say that you will need about 1 TBSP of glue, about 1-3 drops of mixed food coloring and a spritz of water to keep things smooth. The truth is you will have to experiment on your own to come up with the tint that you want, but also how much you need when it comes to mixing it with the craft glue. You can see how my final paint turned out, adding more or less glue will determine the intensity of the final tint. The darker the color, the darker your jars will be, but try not to add too much food coloring because you might lose the transparency effect of the glue after drying.

When you are happy with your paint, find the best way to hold the jar in your hand and use your brush to paint it on the outside. I didn’t mix the paint and the glue to perfection because I wanted to create some stains here and there to give the jars a more antiqued look.

The food coloring-glue paint should be creamy and not too runny. I thought that using up-down brush strokes would work best because if there are any drippings they will look like they were intended and not accidental. You can create even more of an intentional stained effect here and there by adding more paint into a specific area, so you can play around to get different results. In the image below you can see two jars, the one on the left was the one that I painted first. As you can see, because it was really hot outside, it already started to dry clear by the time I finished painting the second jar, the one on the right.

Let the jars dry completely before using them!

TIPS AND TRICKS

1. Make sure you wash well and completely dry your jars before painting them. Greased areas or other impurities might make your tint chip after drying, so you can also use a little bit of rubbing alcohol just to make sure they are squeaky clean before painting them.
2. Don’t add too much water to your food coloring-glue combo because the ‘paint’ will bead up and won’t stick to your jars. If that happens to you, clean or wash your jar, modify your mixture ratio, and start again.
3. Don’t forget to clean your brush after finishing painting. Otherwise, you’ll have a total mess on your hand and you won’t be able to use the brush anymore because of the glue that will harden.

While the jars are drying you can move on to cutting the round French labels. Use your scissors to cut them all if you want, this way you can store them along with other French ephemera cutouts and use them when in need!

You can use distress ink to give the labels even more of a vintage appearance. And if you’re feeling adventurous, you can use different paper-distressing techniques to make the paper look worn. I like to just crumple the paper in my hand and use some distress ink on the creases, but it really depends on how much of that worn feeling you want to add.

Unfold the paper afterward and you have quickly added a quick and easy aged effect! This will break some of the fiber in the paper and will remove some of that initial crispy new and sharp appearance.

Then you can place your jars on your table and decide which labels to use and where.

Use craft glue to adhere the labels to your jars. Start adding the glue in the middle of the label (on their back) and use your fingers to press it towards the edges when placed on the jars. Let everything dry completely before using your jars.

Your new old-looking DIY Vintage Brown Tinted Jars with a French twist are now ready! Can you believe how gorgeous they all turned out?

After drying, the jars can be filled with water if you want to turn them into super chic small vases for your home decor. But you’ll need to be careful so that no water touches the outside surface of our jars because the tint is not permanent and it might peel or even wear off.

This thing might actually work to our advantage because you’ll have the option to wash the jars and make them clear again. Maybe you’ll just get bored of them after a while or you want to try something different, I think it’s an option to keep in mind if needing to repurpose the jars one more time.

But if you absolutely love your new old-looking jars and want to make the tint permanent, you can use a matte finish spray to seal them afterward. You can use the clear spray before or after adding the French labels. I would also use a coat of Mod Podge on top of the labels first if deciding to use the clear spray on the paper too, just to make sure the spray doesn’t seep into the paper creating unwanted strokes or even warps.

The jars can be easily included in your home decor, you can use coffee-stained books and other small decorative items to create classy vintage vignettes. You can fill them with water and use them with fresh flowers, but they would also look amazing with dried flowers or green natural-looking faux plants. You can also use them to hold your brushes, pencils or other small items that you want to store in a chic way.

All the labels come in three different sizes so you will be able to easily adapt them to your jars, depending on your needs. I used the ‘Sigaut’ label on three different-sized jars because I thought it would be fun to use them with the other jars but also as a pretty set if needed.

You can use jars in any size or shape, you can even use old bottles to create vintage stained bottles or any other glass recipients that you think could use a vintage makeover. Once you make a few tests and find the perfect color combo that works for you, I would suggest working in larger batches! It’s always great to have these beauties around to decorate your home, but can you imagine what an amazing present they would make for birthdays or any other occasion? If gifting them, you can include instructions on how to use them if you decide to keep the costs minimal and not use the final clear coat of spray to seal them. Handmade items always bring that personal touch to gifts, making them even more loved and appreciated, don’t you think?

This jar turned out to be my favorite because of its gorgeous apothecary feel and I think it goes so well with the French soap label that imprints a super chic final look.

I hope you will love this sweet little project and decide to give it a try! The operation tint-all-the-jars-that-you-can-find can start now, just experiment and have fun creating the vintage jars of your dreams!