DIY Jadeite and Vintage Glass Using Mod Podge Sheer Colors

I love depression glass and jadeite– but it’s really difficult to find a good deal on the stuff. Back when depression glass and jadeite were being produced, you could find the pieces in hardware stores or five-and-dimes as an incentive to buy a bag of flour or oatmeal, but today the pieces can be priced in the hundreds. When I learned that Mod Podge made a new line of colorful Mod Podge, I wanted to try to make some vintage-inspired glassware for myself.

Some inspiration. The thing that I love about the jadeite and depression glass is that to find authentic pieces, you actually have to look for uneven coloring, scratches, and nicks. Usually I can find a bowl at an antique store for a decent price, but the canister sets can go for hundreds. The knockoffs aren’t so cheap either. (Inspiration source.)

To make your own jadeite you need:
-Mod Podge Sheer Colors in blue and yellow, or green
-Glassware
-Paintbrush or sponge
-Sandpaper
-Black paint if you want to paint numbers

I’m really tickled with how these turned out. I’d like to find more vintage-looking glass pieces and try the technique again. For this project I used some flower vases and a cookie jar that my roommate brought home from work.

To prepare the canister to accept the Mod Podge, I sanded the glass a bit with some sandpaper.

For the opaque jadeite canisters, you’ll need Mod Podge Sheer Colors in yellow and blue. You’ll also need some flat off white paint.

Mix the colors together and tweak everything until you get the perfect color. I painted a few layers, let it dry, and then painted numbers on top of the jadeite. 🙂 Here is a video that gives tips on tinting glass, and here is a video about using Mod Podge Sheer Colors.

For the simple green glass, I just mixed the yellow and blue Mod Podge Sheer Colors together and painted on a few layers.

I’ve put the jadeite canisters in the bathroom for a bit of countertop storage.

Because I didn’t have any counter space in the kitchen or matching glass pieces, I wanted to have numbers on the canisters instead of the traditional “Flour,” “Sugar,” and “Tea.” I really love these scientific jars that I got at an antique store in Indiana, so I modeled them after those.

One of my real jadeite plates. If you want to do a jadeite plate instead, there is actually dishwasher-safe Mod Podge from Plaid as well. But a bit of a heads up, I haven’t tried the dishwasher-safe Mod Podge yet because I don’t have a dishwasher. 😛 #NYCproblems

For more info on Plaid, sign up to receive their weekly newsletter with tutorials and inspiration. You can also get ideas on their Pinterest and you can find all of the Mod Podges I used in this post at Michaels or on Plaid’s website.

Disclosure: I wrote this post as part of a campaign with Plaid and Blueprint Social. The opinions in this post are my own– I am an enormous fan of Plaid and Mod Podge. It’s good stuff. 🙂