Christmas Crafts: Embossed Vases

Today we're going to make a super easy project. We're going to make embossed mason jars. You can put whatever you'd like on these vases & vessels for the perfect storage solution or display for fresh cut flowers.

I'm going to focus on holiday themed designs, but these techniques can be used across the board. Names, words, phrases, shapes... the possibilities really are endless.

Supply List:

• Empty wine bottles, vases, or other glass vessels
• Puff paint
• Paint (optional: spray paint or acrylic) for monochrome look
• Decorative accents (optional; such as: ribbon, glitter, gems, etc)

If you are using old wine bottles or jars that have labels on them, make sure to remove the labels and thoroughly clean the surface. Allowing the labels to soak in warm water and removing with an old sponge works well for the first part. Goo gone is highly recommended for the surface cleaning (though I've heard Magic Erasers also work for this).

I got these at Dollar Tree- they'll make the perfect way to have silverware on the table for holiday functions. And you see that beautiful wood underneath? That's the dining table (still in progress, but soon to be done)! Isn't is gorgeous?? (minus the grease spots from Aaron of course)

Once all of your surface is clean, grab your puff paint. There are several ways that you can do this project, but I'm only going to go over two ways:

Monochrome: your design will be entirely covered in one color, getting an embossed look

Polychrome: your designs will have multiple colors, and will not be covered

Using your puff paint, create your design; the raised paint will give the jar an embossed look and feel.

Due to my lack of skill with puff paint, I enlisted Hannah to decorate these bad boys. We went for a design to spell the word "joy" for Christmas parties. All she had to do was create her design, let it dry, and voila! They were done (Rookie Tip: don't set these down on paper towels to dry if you have a design that touches the bottom of the jar. Learned that the hard way. Maybe plastic wrap or an old piece of glass from a picture frame would work better).

If you're going for a monochromatic design, after your design has dried completely, grab your paint. Cover your entire bottle in the main color. Coating the entire bottle will allow any additional decorative accents to stick well and have better staying power.

Using your extra accents, finish off each vase.

So far I've decided to leave my "eat" set plain, as I haven't decided what color I'd like them to be, but these will eventually be entirely covered in one color of paint. I do want them to have a slightly distressed look, and may add some twine or ribbon around the tops.

I may add some holiday ribbon to the "joy" set for a bit of added pop and interest.

For my "joy" set, Hannah added a bit of white paint at the tops and bottoms so that it would like like piled & dripping snow. They turned out really cute, and match the Christmas table settings we have very well!

Simply throw your flowers, candles, or silverware in to the jars, and use them as a centerpiece. I decided to dress up our table a bit with some left over garland from another project (more on that soon). If you have battery operated Christmas lights, they would be perfect to weave in with the garland for a super easy but adorable (not to mention affordable!!) centerpiece.

When the holiday party comes around in a few weeks, this dining set will be finished and looking good. 

And if you're wondering where I got these ridiculously adorable place settings, I chose each piece separately from Kohl's and got away with a 12 person set for less than $200 after all those coupons they have. 

I'll include a full source listing for our holiday items at the bottom for you!

Voila! Now you have the perfect place to store all that holiday candy, candles, silverware, or display some flowers in your holiday spread.

Also- did you notice our new bar cart? I got it for $5!! It needed some work when I picked it up, but now it's cuter than ever. There will be a post on that later tonight!

Source Guide:

Plates: Kohl's
Bowls: Kohl's
Table runner: Target
Tablecloth (not pictured): Target
Cookie platter (not pictured): Kohl's
Appetizer platter (not pictured): Kohl's
Ham platter (not pictured; similar product linked): Kohl's