Tinting Jars

My Gran has some of those official 1930s blue tinted mason jars. The ones that are awesome and gorgeous and worth some money is they have the original top and stuff with them. I've always loved those blue jars, so when I came across the tutorial to tint mason jars, I knew I had to try it. Luckily, my sister also came across the same tutorial, so we decided to give it a shot together this weekend. We played around with colors and jar sizes and such until we were finally satisfied. Of course, I completely forgot to take photos of the jars we were happiest with, mostly because I was exhausted and went to bed before they were done cooling. She had them all packed up by the time I woke up this morning. But the pictures below provide a pretty decent visual, so we'll go with them.

Orange tinted jar just out of the oven.

What You'll Need:

• Clean, dry mason jars (any size will do)
• A bottle of Mod Podge (the glossy kind)
• Water
• Food Coloring
• Wax Paper
• Cooling Racks
• Baking Sheets
• A Plastic Throw Away Solo Cup
• A Plastic Spoon

The last two don't have to be plastic because you can wash this stuff out, but I find using plastic makes the clean up easier. I realize it's not great for the environment, though.

Mod Podge can be found at any craft supply store.

What You Need to Do:

1. Preheat the oven at 270°
2. Put a sheet of wax paper in your baking sheet, and then set a cooling rack on the wax paper
3. In the plastic cup, pour 4 tablespoons of Mod Podge, 1 tablespoon of water, and roughly 8-10 drops of the food coloring of your choice. Stir well.
4. Pour enough of the mixture into the bottom of your mason jars so that you are able to roll it around in the jars and coat the jars inside completely
5. Pour any excess mixture back into the plastic cup
6. Set the mason jars upside down on the cooling rack that is sitting in your baking sheet
7. Let the mason jars sit for roughly 30 minutes (they will start to dry during this time.)
8. Put the baking sheet with the mason jars upside down in the oven and bake for 30 minutes
9. Flip the mason jars right side up and let them bake another 30 minutes
10. Remove and allow them to cool completely before handling

WARNING: You cannot eat or drink out of these jars. They are toxic. You can, however, use them as votive holders, flower vases, or storage jars.

Jars drying before baking.

Baking Jars

Now, I know that the above jars don't look perfect. They don't have to. But, to take care of streaks or if you find your rims glopping up too much (which we found with the first batch which is pictured above), you can put more water in your mixture and/or bake a little longer. These things will take care of the glops and the streaks.

I'm thinking of making green and red ones for the Christmas Season and putting them all over the place with my normal decorations. 

Now, go forth and tint!