Love home decor and personalizing gifts, especially glassware? Well, this year at Winter CHA, DecoArt aka Americana, one of the biggest and most recognized names in the crafty painting world, premiered a brand new line of gloss paints including Crystal and 3D gloss enamels. Their booth at CHA was absolutely stunning with tons of glassware in an array of colors all over their mini-duplicated kitchen booth.
Both products can be used separately or together. The company website says this about their Crystal Gloss Enamels:
“Brush-on transparent paint with crystal clear colors when dry. Creates beautiful jewel toned colors when applied on clear glass. Dries without cracking.”
I find this to be a very accurate description of these paints. I found them to have an almost watercolor effect, if you will.  They are very sheer, but layerable and the colors mixable. There’s no noticeable odor to these paints and I found quite a little bit of paint goes a long way. I did notice that the paint dries on your brushes very quickly, so keep a small cup of water around to rinse them off with immediately after use.
Here’s what DecoArt says when describing the 3D gloss enamels:
“Transparent writers for glass and ceramic surfaces. This dimensional paint holds it shape and does not flatten. Use for personalization, outlining, painting and stenciling.”
These writers definitely hold their shape and have a really great consistency on them. I love the fact the cap has a special niche in the top of it for the tip of the bottle, making clogs and splatters a non-issue. I found that holding the tip of the bottle just above the surface you’re working on and maintaining an even pressure creates the best results. The black that I had to sample was fairly opaque when dried, as to be expected, but the purple and red were completely transparent.
Here I monogrammed a quick wine glass using the purple crystal gloss enamels as the smaller letters and the 3D gloss enamels for the large “C.” You can tell that the purple does indeed dry transparent. Another thing I noticed, that even once you dry your paints completely, they are not totally permanent until you bake them in the oven. I was able to scratch off some paint with my fingernail beforehand, but after the oven-bake I couldn’t get the paint to budge. Make sure to account for the extra ten minutes of bake time if you’re using the crystal gloss with the 3D gloss.
Here’s another project I did with a glass plate. I blocked off the inner portion of the plate like a Mondrian painting with the black 3D writer and then filled in some of the boxes with the crystal gloss. I like how it almost creates a stained glass window effect, too.
I also tried it on an acrylic tag, just blending random colors together to use as a background.
I was able to stamp a couple of images on the other side and this little beauty was done!
I also had a plastic ornament that opened in the middle. I squirt and few drops of paint in, shook it around really hard and it created a really cool marbled effect inside. I also found the less paint you use, you get an almost graffitti effect.
If you’re looking to personalize some glassware or anything with a slick surface and sheer coverage, look no farther than DecoArts Crystal and 3D gloss enamels. They can be found in many local retailers and online thanks to being a DecoArt product. The Crystal gloss enamels are approximately $3 for a two ounce bottle which I think is comparable due to it’s special formula and the fact that you can bake it for a permanent effect. The 3D gloss enamels can go from $3.50 – $5 for a two ounce bottle depending on place of purchase. Still not a bad deal considering the quality of this product and the snazzy little cap it has. (ok, I’m a sucker for anything that doesn’t clog.)
So, what do you think my crafty cohorts? Ready to whip out your paint brushes and give this product a try? Let me know what you think!
Disclosure: Sample provided for review, but opinions are honest and 100% my own.
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