Make It: Mother's Day Vase

As a kid, I made most of my gifts for holidays. You could say I was born with the DIY gene. I remember one year I made a little "coaster" for Mother's Day out of beads that you make a pretty design and iron them so they melt and stick together. Remember those? 

For you last minute gifters that have yet to get a gift for the special woman in your life, you are in luck! I came across this DIY vase post and I instantly fell in love with the pretty, watercolor-esque vase and knew I had to make one. Luckily this project is easy enough it only has 2 steps!! Yep. You can make this in a half hour!

Supplies:

Alcohol ink

Glass vase

Modge Podge

Paint brush

Step 1

Apply drops of ink on the outside of the glass vase while it's standing upside down. I didn't have a pattern in mind I wanted to create, so I just started placing drops and letting the ink do its thing. It's okay if the ink doesn't run all the way down. You can always add more, but the point is for it to look organic and unintentional. When I applied the drops of ink I never actually squeezed the bottle, I just let a drop fall out. I decided to hang on to the vase myself so I could place drops and turn the vase to make the ink run in different directions. Play around with the arrangement and color until you have something you like. I applied the different colored inks before each one had completely dried (but it does dry quickly), so that may have been the reason the ink got a little dark in some areas. 

If you get too much color in one area, you can remove the ink easily with some rubbing alcohol and q-tips. I actually used nail polish remover because that's what I had on hand and it worked great.

Step 2

Once you are happy with your ink design, it's time to seal it so the ink stays put. I used Modge Podge, but a clear polyurethane works as well. Make sure to cover every inch that has ink or the ink might come off as it gets wet. The Modge Podge makes the glass a little cloudy, but I actually like how it muted the overall look a bit.

There you have it! The simplest no-fail DIY known to man. Maybe that's a little dramatic, but you seriously cannot mess this one up. I love how bright and fun it looks! I have an obsession with marble and anything remotely close to it (watercolors, swirls, this) so I'm dreaming up all kinds of fun projects using alcohol ink so I can get my marble fix. Alcohol ink has so much potential! I think it would be really pretty on a white vase, or even one of those stained vases from Hobby Lobby that already has a tint of color.

Are you making mom's present this year? What crafts do you remember making as a kid?