It seems like glass painting is all the rage lately- and now Plaid is hopping on the bandwagon with Martha Stewart Glass Paints. As you may remember, I reviewed the Martha Stewart Craft Paints and they were purported to work with glass, too. (Actually, I tried them and they worked great.)
So why the specialized line? Well the Martha Stewart Glass Paints come in a number of finishes for all your glass-specific needs, including:
- Gloss Opaque
- Translucent Frost
- Fine Glitter
- Metallic
- Transparent
Here’s what it says on the Plaid website:
The centerpiece of the Martha Stewart Crafts™ Glass Paint Program is the new, specifically formulated paint for glass and ceramic surfaces. Featuring a lovely palette of 120 colors hand-selected by Martha, the paint beautifully enhances glass and ceramics. Dishwasher-safe when cured, the paint comes in seven distinctive finishes: opaque – gloss, pearl, and metallic; transparent – gloss and liquid fill; translucent – fine glitter and frost. Fine tip allows for quick and easy application. Use for painting, silkscreening and outlining on glass surfaces. Weather resistant for indoor and outdoor use. Non-toxic. Permanent. Dishwasher safe on glass. USA-made.
Of course, if a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a thousand pictures. so here is a quick video overview with my swatches so you can see for yourself what the finishes are like!
And here are those photos so you can see them close up:
Handy notch in the cap for secure closing. Fine tip is included on all bottles of MS Glass Paint.
They all look opaque when wet, but dry clear.
Some of the finishes….
So, I painted a few votive cups to see how the finish would work. Here’s my gold-edged votive ( I just used a pouncer to apply it.)
A quick pounce around the rim makes for an elegant brushed-gold finish with a bit of texture.
There are two methods for curing the Martha Stewart Glass Paints.
- The oven-curing directions are as follows: After drying for 1 hour, place in cool oven. Set temp to 350 degrees F and bake for 30 min. (Glass must heat gradually) After 30 min turn the oven off. Let glass cool completely in oven. Don’t use for 72 hours.
***NOTE: DO NOT OVEN-CURE THE FINE GLITTER FINISH. AIR-CURE ONLY!!!***
- Air dry method: it will cure after 21 days and it will be dishwasher top-shelf safe!
Your glass needs to heat up slowly and cool down slowly to avoid shattering. It took my oven 3 hours to cool off, so actually the oven-curing method, while shorter, still turns out to be a 4-hour process. I just want you to know so that you are prepared!
So, after my votive came out of the oven, I gave it a wee scratch with my fingernail. As you can see in the photo below, it did scratch off:
The finish WILL scratch off, even when cured appropriately.
It was still warm, so I let it sit out over night to REALLY cool off… and tried again. Yup, it still scratches.
So this is just to let you know that while it’s a bake-on product and is dishwasher-safe ( I ran the votive through the dishwasher on the top shelf and it came out fine) it is NOT an enamel. Take care as to where you will put your design, because there is a chance it will wear off with use. On the plus side, you can remove the paint with a razor blade even after it is dry- great for fixing major craft-fails!
I played with the Martha Stewart Glass Paints and new silk-screens (that’s a review for another day) and found it lots of fun. I worked on some ceramic ornaments and a glass serving piece. (Only a sneak peek of them, as I have a full tutorial coming up next week!)
The MS Glass Paint adds a bit of texture, too. Nice.
Reminder: do NOT paint surfaces that will come in contact with food!
The reason to buy Martha Stewart Glass Paints is for the finishes. You have to love the ability to make faux Blue-Bell-Jar crafts, the fun metallics, and the spunky glitter paints. If you keep some of the limitations of the paints in mind, I think you’ll find it a fun tool in your craft box!
Currently Martha Stewart Glass Paints are available exclusively at Michael’s stores and Plaid Online. Each bottle retails for $3.49 USD for a 2 oz bottle which includes the fine point applicator tip. There are also boxed sets of 8 colors for $29.99 USD which actually turns out to be MORE than buying them individually- but if you want to buy the set you can save big by using a coupon!
Disclosure: Samples provided for review purposes.
September 6, 2012 at 10:21 am
Came out great!!!
September 6, 2012 at 10:53 am
Thank you for a great review! I can’t wait to try Martha’s new glass paints! I love your leaf embellished clear bowl!
September 6, 2012 at 10:54 am
Thank you so much! I’ll have a step-out tutorial next week, so you’ll get the details of exactly how I made it! ; )
September 6, 2012 at 12:04 pm
Jenny, love your tuts! Thanks.
September 6, 2012 at 12:12 pm
Aw, YAY! Thank you Lynda for making my day! : )
September 6, 2012 at 12:57 pm
Thanks Jenny. I love your reviews. You really do a great job. Also, I love your nail polish. What color are you sporting in this video. I think I love it too!!!
September 6, 2012 at 1:09 pm
Thank you so much! This is the “Moon Candy” line by Revlon and the color combo is “orbit”- I got it at Target! : )
September 6, 2012 at 5:04 pm
Great review! I can’t wait to see how you made the leaves. I’m going to have to make something similar because I love that project for fall entertaining!
September 9, 2012 at 11:48 am
Hi Jenny, I was really excited to read about these glass paints on your video because a light bulb went off in my head when you said the white opaque looks like the etching cream OMW!! I’m sure you can also “etch” the glass, but will have to be carefull about it coming off. Mmmh, I wonder if there is a protective covering one can put on top?
Thanks for your great tutorials!
Carmen
September 9, 2012 at 1:26 pm
Looks like a lot of fun. Love the stamping idea. I wonder how well the would paint on or dip. I am a bit bummed about the fact that they scratch off so easily. My initial thought on these was, neat-o, I can decorate Babybumble’s mason jars….guess not!
September 10, 2012 at 3:14 am
Thanks for giving your input on these glass paints. I wonder if the glitter finish came off because it wasn’t cured? Did you try the test again after 21 days? Just wondering if that could make a difference.
Kindest regards,
Cindy
September 10, 2012 at 10:30 am
Cindy- the samples on the video were not glitter- they were made with the metallic gold- and they were oven-cured. Any coating you put on top of glass will run the risk of scratching off over time with use/and or abrasion.
October 19, 2012 at 12:43 am
Thanks for the video! Very helpful. Do you mind explaining the difference between the frost etching paint and the translucent frost paint? I’m having a hard time deciding what I need. Thanks again!
November 13, 2012 at 4:11 pm
I don’t know if the MS liquid fill glass paint has been added since you reviewed or if they just didn’t send you any… There is very little information online about it. It seems to be the recommended way to dye or tint glass like mason jars or wine glasses. They also make a liquid fill medium… I think that’s to mix with the original 5 finishes but no way to know for sure since it seems to be such an obscure product. =\
November 13, 2012 at 4:17 pm
Katie- sorry, they did not send any “fill” paint…maybe it wasn’t in the original product line. I’ll look into it…-Jenny
November 13, 2012 at 4:18 pm
Looks like this video might be helpful. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCQU5vl8LrI
November 24, 2012 at 9:58 pm
Thanks for the video, very helpful! I was very happy with the opaque versions of this paint, but the transparent ones were barely visible, even with a couple of coats. They are the barest tints. Also be aware in this line that the letters in the silk screen stencils are only good for working “forwards”– that is, if you want to paint them on the underside or inside of a glass, bowl or plate, you can’t, or your letters will be backwards. But they work beautifully with this line of paints, and I found that the Martha Stewart all-around paints didn’t work so well with the silk screens.
January 11, 2013 at 11:41 am
very informative. Gave a lot of information I was looking for. I h=just wish that there was a food safe paint to paint on solid ceramic plates . Linda .
February 14, 2013 at 11:59 am
Your candleholders look great Jenny, but here’s a warning to anyone thinking of painting wine glasses – I bought this paint to paint wine glasses as wedding favors for my guests. Even after following all instructions to a T (prepping and drying glasses) it was not even an hour into the reception that all of the paint was sliding off the glasses with condensation from a warm day (in January) and wine. I may as well have used dried ketchup to decorate the glasses, it would have stayed longer.
February 14, 2013 at 12:16 pm
So…does that mean you heat cured them or let the rest for 21 days?
March 5, 2013 at 3:11 pm
Wish they sold Plaid glass paints in the UK. Seems you can only order them in USA and Canada.
April 8, 2013 at 7:09 am
Helen… You can buy plaid glass paints in the UK on ebay or at brushstrokescrafts.co.uk. I get all my supplies from there.
April 17, 2013 at 11:10 pm
Hi:)
When using the glass paint, try air drying the glassware for 48 hours before putting them in the oven. The paint should be complety dry before heating or the paint will melt off or chip. I have made many wine glasses this way and they didn’t chipped. I have also used the fine glitter glass paint, with air drying for 48 hours, and they come out beautifully:) Hope this is helpful.
April 18, 2013 at 1:10 pm
Great tips Michelle- thanks!!
May 6, 2013 at 1:44 am
Hey Jenny,
I did a project using these paints, specifically the transparent gloss paints. Once, my piece was done oven curing, it came out all bubbled and wrinkly. Is that normal? What should I do? I followed all of the instructions to a t. Help.
May 6, 2013 at 9:18 am
Chloe- no, that is not normal. One reason for the wrinkling is that the piece might not have been air-dryed long enough before oven-curing, and another is that your oven temps might be off. I’ve learned that ovens are not particularly accurate (!) and that you should always use an oven thermometer to adjust accordingly.
If it’s bubbled and wrinkly, presumably you should be able to scrape off the paint and try again. Also, make sure you clean the glass with Windex or rubbing alcohol before re-painting. Good luck!