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DIY Project: Ombre Painted Jars by Stockroom Vintage

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DIY Project: Ombre Painted Jars by Stockroom Vintage
elizabeth ulrich

DIY Ombre Painted Wedding Centerpieces

While vintage is definitely my first love, I’m a DIY girl at heart. So when Jessica asked me to stop by once a month to share some craft projects with all of you, I was all sorts of giddy! I’m so excited about this ombre painting technique that you can apply to any glass items you have on hand.

In today’s first DIY, I decided to mash-up two of my favorite things: painted jars and ombre designs. And, let me tell y’all, when these two met, they totally got it on. Colors blended. Future plans were made. (Would they be vases or storage vessels?) Either way, they’re destined for greatness. The best part? You don’t need the skills of Bob Ross to knock out a few of these ombre painted jars for your wedding.

Ombre Painted Jars by Stockroom Vintage

You’ll only need a few supplies to make it happen. And you don’t even need to buy fancy paints. I used paint leftover from furniture projects. And those jars? They’re from my kitchen. I reused food and spice jars, washing them with soapy water and scrubbing off any sticky label residue with a paper towel dipped in a bit of lighter fluid. Between the paint and jars I already had, and the paintbrushes and plastic art palette I bought, this project cost about $2.50 total. Here’s what you’ll need:

What You’ll Need: 

Ombre Painted Jars by Stockroom Vintage

How to make Ombre Painted Centerpiece Jars

Now, without further ado, here’s how to make these Ombre Painted Wedding Centerepices for your DIY Wedding!

Step 1: Mix Your Paint

Mix your paint into four colors, starting with your main color and using white or cream paint to create three more shades that get gradually lighter. It’s best to start with a darker, saturated color if you want a higher contrast between the layers. If you prefer a more seamless transition from color to color, choose a lighter shade as your base. As you’ll see with the light blue jars here, if you start with a lighter hue, the contrast between layers is super subtle.

Step 2: Start Painting from the Bottom

Starting with the darkest shade, begin to paint the inside of the jar, coating the bottom and moving upward. Pressing the brush gently into the sides of the jar rather than making large, sweeping strokes will give you more control and better coverage. Paint until you’ve covered about one-fourth of the jar’s height, creating a soft edge at the top of your line. A flowing, curvy line will look more natural than a hard edge, so don’t worry about getting it perfectly straight.

Once you’re happy with your first layer, wipe excess paint from your brush onto a paper towel or rag. (There is no need to wash your brush between layers, as you’ll be doing a bit of blending between shades anyway.) If you’re concerned about paint coverage, hold the jar up to the light to find spots that need touch-ups before you move on.

Ombre Painted Jars by Stockroom Vintage

Step 3: Move up the Vessel from dark to light

Begin painting with the next shade, this time covering the next quarter of the jar’s height. Where the two colors meet, carefully drag the lighter shade downward into the darker one below. While you’ll want to make sure you’ve left no space between hues, it’s not necessary to do much blending. Definitely don’t drag your brush down too far into the bottom of the jar–you’ll want to avoid mixing the colors too much.

Step 4: Blend the colors well

Use the same technique with the final two layers. As you’re working between layers, the paint will begin to drip down a bit (as you can see in the image above). That’s completely OK. If you want a more gradient Ombre effect, blend the layers a bit more as you go so there’s less of an obvious difference between sections.

Let your jars dry for at least 36 hours before use, or until the paint that puddles on the bottom dries completely. If you’ll be using jars for flower arrangements, place a smaller container filled with water inside rather than risking your beautiful paint job.

Ombre Painted Jars by Stockroom Vintage

 Hope you enjoyed this tutorial! These Ombre Painted Jars are a great project for a wedding centerpiece but would also look great on your bathroom counter.


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elizabeth ulrich

is the owner, curator and stylist of Stockroom Vintage, as event rental company that provides vintage props and goodies to brides, photographers, stylists and the like. When I'm not scouring estate sales and flea markets and styling my favorite finds, I'm hanging with my guys: my supportive (and handsome!) husband Will and adopted dogs, Nigel, Mumford, and Topher.