Artful Upcycling with Martha Stewart Crafts

I like to have stylish storage pieces for my studio that are pretty and practical. Forget the plastic, I prefer to take vintage finds and transform them into items that are functional and fabulous. Paintable clings and glass paint from the Martha Stewart Glass Painting Program are just the ticket to take any thrift store find from drab to fab!

The clings and liquid fill glass paint are incredibly easy to use. Simply fill in the sections with paint, allow to dry, then peel and stick for easy embellishing on just about any surface! The clings are easy to remove, so you can experiment with a variety of looks or change them up any time you wish.

I used Red Coral, Bright Sky, and Kelp liquid fill glass paints to turn a Plain-Jane lunch box that I discovered at antique store into a decorative storage case with a bit of pizzazz! The Flowers and Leaves clings have clean, graphic lines that make the bold colors pop.

For a softer, more romantic feel, I chose leaves and blossoms from the English Garden silkscreen collection for the other side of the lunchbox. These delicate blooms reminded me of embroidered embellishments, so I decided to simply to paint the leaves with Kelp liquid fill glass paint, and use them as is for a lovely, transparent effect. Of course, I can always take them off and paint them if the mood strikes! Such a versatile product!

 

Speaking of versatility, paintable clings also make lovely accents for framed art. I simply trimmed a piece of vintage dictionary paper to fit in a small frame and added a butterfly from the Butterflies and Blossoms collection to create a pretty vignette for my desk. Red Coral liquid fill glass paint adds a pop of vivid color on top of the glass.

Laying the paintable clings over a dark background like a sheet of kraft cardstock makes it much easier to see where you've filled in the designs. For more vivid color and better coverage, add a thin base coat to the clings, allow to dry for a few minutes, and then add a second thin coat. The paint dries fairly quicky, but I allowed the two coats to dry overnight to be sure they were completely cured. When using more than one color, you'll have more success if you allow each shade to dry before adding another one.

My glass paints are safely tucked away in their new storage container, but this product is so fun and easy to use that I'm sure I'll be using them often! Give them a try, and let me know what you think!

I wrote this post as part of a sponsored campaign with Plaid Enterprises and The Blueprint Social. The opinions in this post are my own.