Tutorial: Faux Mercury Glass Wine Bottle

In this really easy tutorial we are going to show you how you can turn an ordinary 

wine bottle into a faux mercury glass bottle that lights up with string lights.

You will need:

~A wine bottle that has been well cleaned and dried and labels removed.

~3/4 inch diamond bit and a drill

~Water spray bottle with water.

~Spray can of Krylon's Looking Glass

~Sponge brush

How-to:

Using the diamond bit and the drill, drill out a hole towards the bottom of the bottle.

Holding the water bottle sprayer at about 3 feet away from wine bottle, spray lightly a few drops onto the wine bottle. Try not to spray on too much water that starts running down on the bottle. Keep a paper towel close to wipe off any running drops.

Next step is to start spraying the  wine bottle with Krylon's Looking Glass. While spraying, you will notice that the Looking Glass spray traps the water drops underneath. Make sure you have the desired covering for a mirror looking surface.

Let the Looking Glass coat dry for about 2-3 minutes. With a sponge or dry cloth, you can start wiping off the trapped water bubbles to remove some of the Looking Glass finish.

With a sponge you can scrub off more of the Looking Glass coating to give it a distressed look.

Feed the string of lights into the bottle through the drilled hole.

Here is another way we used our faux mercury wine bottles: 

by topping them with a wine bottle candelabra, available in our store at Market Street Artisans. 

Fall creations at Market Street Artisans

Here at Market Street Artisans we are always trying out new ways to use our paints. And fall is upon us so here we are, painting gourds.

Before you ask... these are real, dried apple gourds. Who would have thought!?

Yes, grown then dried gourds. 

We painted them using Amy Howard's One-Step paint 

in Charm School and Lime Lime colors

Then lightly sanded and waxed with our Antique Wax.

They are great display on a buffet, as table center pieces or mantels. One can also choose their own colors and the best part is...

...Unlike any of the store bought gourds and pumpkins, when painting these dried gourds we did not have the issue of paint bleeding through our finish.

Stool Makeover

We would like to share how easy it is to give any piece of furniture a makeover using Amy Howard's One Step paint. 

What we needed for this project:

Any color of  choice of Amy Howard's One Step paint

Amy Howard at Home, Dark Antique Wax

Antiquax, Original Wax Polish

Three brushes to use with each product

For this tutorial we used an unfinished stool. 

~  First step is to thoroughly clean the piece with an industrial degreaser . It helps to remove any grease, grime, oil or wax from the piece.

~  After making sure the furniture is dry after cleaning, we began to  paint the piece with Amy Howard's One Step paint. It may take one or two coats to paint. Our stool was a light color and only took one coat to cover with maybe a retouch here and there. 

Amy Howard's One Step usually takes about 15-20 minutes to completely dry.

~   Using a different brush now, we are waxing the entire piece using the Original Wax Polish. After dipping the brush into the container of wax, make sure to unload some of the wax on a piece of cardboard for better distribution of wax on the bristles. Use a polishing rag (any cloth that does not leave lint residue on the furniture surface) to buff the piece. Make sure to wipe off wax excess and smooth the surface by wiping in a circular motion.   

~  Changing the brush, we are applying the Dark Antique Wax to add visual interest to any detail in the woodwork. Same way we applied the wax polish, make sure to unload the brush on the cardboard. Brush the dark wax over the detail making sure it's entirely covered. Then buff with a lint-free cloth.

And here is the finished stool. Makeover took about 2 hours on this piece. Amy Howard's One Step paint can be applied on most any surfaces. No need to strip, sand or prime. 

Hence the name One Step.

All products are available at Market Street Artisans, including the stools which can be pre-ordered.

Amy Howard at Home - Natural Cracked Patina

Don't you sometimes love the look of years of layering of colors and wear that appear through the cracks of the finish of an old piece of furniture?

You can achieve a similar look with Amy Howard's Natural Cracked Patina.

The process is simple. 

1. Thoroughly clean your piece and apply one coat of your choice of color in the One-Step Paint. Allow that to dry.

2. Brush on the Cracked Patina. Allow to dry one to two hours.

3. Brush on your next choice of color in the One-Step paint with long clean strokes. Be careful not to go back over what you have painted or you may pull up the finish before it's ready. As this coat begins to dry, you will see the piece naturally age.

4. After you have allowed this process to completely finish, you may apply a thin coat of light wax and buff with a lint-free cloth as usual. 

For the above piece, we used a small cabinet door from the re-Store. Our base coat was Amy Howard's One-Step in black and our top coat was One-Step in Linen. We waxed with light and dark waxes and applied the decorative knobs.

This process looks great on table-tops, cabinet doors, dressers and even small items. Come see us at Market Street Artisans and we will be more than happy to show you how to use it.

Until next time...

“What Do You Do in Here?”

Often, someone will walk into our shop and look at us with a puzzled expression.

“What do you do in here?” they will ask. And we have a couple of minutes to catch

and keep their attention.

That's when we tell them about Amy Howard at Home One Step paint.

“We are the retailers for a new paint product that requires no sanding, stripping or

priming before use,” we say. Their eyes open wide. Then we tell them “the rest of

the story” - how this paint will transform their tired old furniture and cabinets. Not only

wood furniture but laminate, Formica, metal and plastic. Their eyes open wider. We continue.

That there is no need to seal after painting because the paint seals itself, we say. That usually the only prep work needed is a good cleaning with a degreaser. And there are many lovely

colors.

It is at this point that they seem to lose interest. Their eyes glaze over a little and they

stare off into space. But they aren't bored...they're thinking of which piece of their own

furniture they can paint!

We show them some of our “before and after” painted pieces. Ugly, dirty, brown,

glossy-painted “before's” standing next to their beautiful twins, transformed by the

One Step paint, often waxed with light wax for a soft sheen and highlighted with dark wax.

We step into our workspace and let them see pieces in progress. There is no odor, even

though paint cans are open. Brushes are washed out with water. The wet paint is drying

quickly. And creative juices are flowing.

Before

After

“How do we get started?” is usually their next question.

“With our workshops or one-on-one with us. Or you can jump right in on your own,

with a quick demonstration by us and a set of our directions.”

It is fun to introduce someone to the One Step paint! This paint is not only remarkable

in its coverage but also in that it is so easy to use. Truly, anyone can achieve beautiful results.

And that is exciting, both for us and for the customer.

Next time, we'll talk about some of the other wonderful finishing products offered by Amy

Howard at Home.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Welcome to Market Street Artisans

Welcome to our blog. 

 We are a retailer featuring new and re-purposed home furnishing along with

 Amy Howard At Home products and DIY workshops teaching finishing techniques for furniture and accessories/design studio. Prior to finding Amy Howard At Home's product line, we worked with many other paint products.

We discovered Amy Howard At Home during the 2013 Home Furnishings Market in High Point, North Carolina. We were amazed at the depth of her product line and decided at that point to become an Amy Howard retailer. After attending the June 2013 Retailer's workshop with Amy, Gene and their staff, we became inspired to share our new-found skills with others.

When a newly renovated property listed on the historical registry became available in downtown Mount Airy, we realized we had found the ideal spot for our business. Our local clientele is growing as people discover the ease and beauty of using these products. In our new space, we have room for our offered workshops, including One-Step & Gilding, Cabinet door, Bring-your-own piece and Zinc Duo.

 

You can find us on Facebook as 

Market Street Artisans and Designworks

Visit us in our newly restored studio at

235 Market Street in historic downtown Mount Airy, NC

Email: MarketStreetArtisans@gmail.com

Phone: 336.648.8477