DIY Glass Vase Paint Tutorial – How to Update an Old Vase

March 29, 2021

These days you have probably seen every influencer sharing posts of their glass vase transformations all over social media! This is a huge trend right now and so much fun to do. It is so easy to transform your old vase using only baking soda and paint and a little Plaster of Paris. Today I’ll show you how!

Pin For Later – DIY Glass Vase Paint Tutorial: How to Update an Old Vase

Painting Glass Vases

this is a photo of a painted glass vase to look like pottery on a countertop

Old worn decor is a huge trend right now. Everywhere I look on social media and Pinterest I see beautiful primitive style decor pieces in peoples homes.

I love this design trend because it adds so much story to a space. Its a really fun way to add in some extra texture and really adds a lot of charm to a room.

The only problem with this design trend is that real authentic old world pieces can be really really expensive!

In the summer I started to notice a bunch of influencers on Instagram sharing how they were transforming their vases to look like ceramic or pottery pieces. I tried my hand at it and created this post sharing how to update an old vase with only baking soda and paint.

DIY Painted Glass Vase Tutorial Video

Making something new look old

For todays post I wanted to add on to the paint and baking soda trend and transform my old glass vase into an old world, aged pottery piece!

This is a super budget friendly way to update any of your decor. It’s also perfect for any of your thrift store finds.
And don’t think you can only use this method on vases. Oh no! It also transforms the base of your ugly old 80’s lamp, or any decorative piece you have lying around the home that needs some extra love and attention

How to paint a glass vase with baking soda, paint and plaster of Paris.

I am going to show you how you can transform your glass vase with step by step instructions. You can also check out my video if you are more of a visual learner, like myself!

This project is so simple it only requires a couple things and you will have a beautiful aged vase in no time.

Materials For This Project:

Plaster of Paris. This can be found at the hardware store or online here.
Acrylic Paint of your choice. You can use craft paint from Michaels or Joanne’s or any paint that you would use on your walls except oil based paint.
Baking soda or Baking Powder
Paint brush
Bowls or paper plates to mix your paint and baking soda
Glass vase or any glass/ceramic decorative object

Step 1:

I was really nervous to work with plaster of Paris. I am weird like that. Any foreign substance (at least foreign to me) and I get freaked out and go into procrastination mode. It turns out its not scary at all, that is if you can mix things with water. If you can do that, then you my friend can work with plaster of Paris.

The box says to mix 2 parts plaster of Paris with 1 part water. I wanted my mixture to be a little runnier though to cover my vase so I ended up using 4 tbsp of plaster of Paris and 3 tbsp of water.

Make sure your vase is clean and dry and start by applying your plaster of Paris all over your glass vase with a paint brush. Make sure to work in a thin layer and if you want extra texture smoosh (technical term) your paint brush on to the vase to add some texture and ridges.

Your paint brush may leave some pointy edges. I waited until my plaster was a little dry and just used my finger to smoosh those down so they weren’t so pointy.

Step 2:

Wait until you have applied your plaster of Paris before mixing up your baking soda and paint mixture. The reason for this is that it dries really really fast and the more time you have before mixing it up the better!

To make your baking soda and paint mixture I use approx. 1 cup paint and 1 tbsp of baking soda. This is 100% approx and if you end up using more or less it will not ruin your project.

The baking soda adds texture similar to chalk paint and thickens you paint. Once your project is dry it will be nice and matte. Alternatively I have seen people use baking powder instead of baking soda. I don’t think it makes much of a difference and you can use whatever you have on hand!

Creating an aged effect of glass vase

To create an aged effect on my glass vase I mixed up three different colors of paint. I used a black paint, black magic by sherwin williams, repose grey by Sherwin Williams and a medium orangey brown craft paint from Michaels. I wanted a variegated look to my vase with colors I would find in an actual old piece of pottery.

Once your baking soda is mixed into your paint and your plaster of Paris is good and dry on your vase start by stippling the paint on to the vase with a paint brush. I dabbed my brush into all three colors and started applying. The great thing about this project is you really can’t mess it up.

Don’t like the shade, just add more dark grey or light grey or whatever and paint over it.

My one tip for this step is that if you find the areas you have already painted are smooshing and removing the plaster of Paris and paint when you go back over them stop and let them dry. Don’t try to fix the area just leave it until its dry and then you can go back over it and add in more paint.

You will need to add 2-3 coats of paint to completely cover your glass vase. make sure they are really dry before starting the next coat or you will remove the paint from your previous coat.

Step 3

Let it dry! And thats it! This really is super simple and looks so real! My husband came home from work and said ” You made that! It looks so authentic”. Yay! Thats just what I want to hear.

I hope you found this painted glass vase tutorial inspiring. Don’t forget to check out the video for easy to follow instructions and painting techniques!