Patriotic Mason Jar Painted Luminary

Good morning!  Today I’ve got a fun last-minute craft to get ready for the 4th.  A little bit of glass paint, tape and stickers (or craft vinyl) can transform a mason jar into a patriotic glowing luminary.  (A word to the wise, though – you may not want to let your kids fall in love with it.  My daughter keeps begging to stay up past dark to watch it glow.  Sigh.)

There are a lot of ways you can accomplish a similar look, but today I’m just going to show you how I put mine together, and offer a couple of tips for getting nice clean lines.

What you will need:

• Mason Jar and tea light
• Red & blue paint – I used DecoArt Americana glass paints for a durable paint job, but acrylics or even spray paint would likely work too
• Sponges or brushes (I sponged mine on)
• Masking tape or washi tape, stickers, craft vinyl, or contact paper for marking off lines and adding stars
• Optional – rubbing alcohol for touching up smudges

First, block off your design.  I made the bottom section taller to cover up the tealight, but get creative with your design!  I just used washi tape to mark 2 stripes.  Then, I added star-shaped stickers around the top.  You can easily cut or punch your own stars from craft vinyl or contact paper – this is just what I had on-hand, so I went with it!  Press them on as tightly as you can.

Next, I sponged on 2 coats of paint – red on the bottom, and blue on the top.  While it was still wet, I removed my tape and stickers.  The still-wet part is important for getting crisp lines.  If you’ve let yours dry just a little too long, it will try to pull off in sort of a “sheet” – so you may want to score into the paint along the edge of your stickers with a craft knife so that it peels cleanly away.

If you’ve had any paint bleed under your stickers (which I did, using paper stickers – vinyl will give you a better seal), you can use a q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol to remove excess paint.  It’s best to do this while the paint is still setting, it will rub right off.

Then, just set it aside for a little while to finish drying!  From start to finish, this project took me about 15 minutes (not counting drying time).  That’s why I like sponging, too – it goes quickly, and you can get away with just 2 coats that aren’t perfectly brushed on.  Spraying would go even faster but I didn’t feel like fussing with my paint sprayer for such a small project. :)

All you need to do now is add your tealight (or battery-operated light, for a kid-safe option), wait until dusk, and watch it glow!  A whole set of these would be really pretty deck decor.

Hope you enjoy the upcoming holiday, and happy 4th to you all!