painted glass jewelry dish

I recently picked up some cheap-o glass goodies at our local Salvation Army, since in the midst of all this furniture restoration and yardwork, I was itching for some small, fun projects I could accomplish in an hour with minimal materials…think spray paint and tape. Among my thrifty shoppings were these three wavy-patterned glass dishes.

I had an idea to transform at least one of them into a little jewelry dish, to use as a drop zone for the day’s earrings and rings when I’m too tired to place them all back in their permanent homes. Our bedroom is tan, white and brown, and I’ve slowly been bringing in deep turquoise accents for a little pop of color. I decided to continue the theme by picking up a can of Rustoleum Painter’s Touch Satin spray paint in Lagoon. LOVE this color…it’s like a tropical sea in a can. Perfect for our beachy, tranquil boudoir.

I decided to spray only the inside of the dish, so I’d still have the glossy shine of the glass on the outside. I started by taping off the rim of the dish to avoid getting any paint on the outer rim. I used Frogtape (love this stuff), tearing off tiny pieces and affixing them to the rim. The small pieces helped me avoid any weird angles or missed spots that could happen from sticking straight tape to a curved dish. This was the most time consuming step of the project, but still only took a few minutes.

I then made an apron from regular old blue painter’s tape (I was conserving the Frogtape…it’s a little expensive), to keep any potential overspray off the rest of the dish. There’s only one round of tape in the photo below, but I actually ended up going all the way to the bottom of the dish just to be on the safe side.

I took the dish outside and got to work with my can of Lagoon, applying several thin coats a few minutes apart. Nota bene for spray paint projects: to avoid globs of paint and spatter marks, always start spraying next to the piece, then keep the can moving back and forth in nice, even strokes.

After 4 very thin coats it was done. For some reason I can’t get the color to render true in photos, and I tried with several cameras, from my basic iPhone cam to my Nikon DLSR. Lagoon actually has more green in it – you can check out its official swatch here. Regardless of the exact color, I’m loving the result:

I love how the painting-the-inside method adds dimension to the dish!

I finished my little jewelry dish with a coat of Minwax Polycrylic in clear gloss (on the inside only) to protect the paint from anything that might scratch it, like prongs or earring backs/hooks.

This was SUCH a fun change from tackling cigar-burned dining tables and destroyed coffee tables these days. A few minutes of taping and painting and I was done. Definitely a nice respite from the electric sander and noxious-smelling primer.

Linked up at The DIY Showoff, Coastal Charm, The Lettered Cottage, The Stories of A to Z, A Beach Cottage, DIY by Design, The Shabby Chic Cottage, French Country Cottage, The Shabby Nest and Remodelaholic

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