How To Paint Mason Jars and Distress Them Easily

Hi! I'm Chas and I love simple DIYs to make inexpensive items look special and more expensive.

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Clean Your Jars

I washed all of the jars, and then I wiped them with rubbing alcohol. This will remove all of the oil, dirt, and other particles that might stop the paint from sticking.

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Time to Paint

You can find chalk paint and acrylic paint for glass at your local craft store. It is important to pick a paint that says it is okay for glass.

You can paint inside or outside of the jar, I chose outside because I will be distressing them.  After painting all 5 jars, I followed the paint instructions and let them dry for 1 hour.

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Sand the Jars

To create a distressed look, I took a sanding block and lightly rubbed it over the raised words on the jars. This removes the paint from the raised lettering. 

Sanding like this is called distressing. You can distress your painted mason jars as much or as little as you want.  If you make a mistake, simply paint the jar again and start over.

Once they’re all done, it’s time to use the jars. There are so many options! You could fill them with pens, pencils, etc and put them in your office. Set them on a lazy susan with some colored pencils, markers, and scissors for kids in the summertime. Give these away as gifts. Create luminaries….