Use food coloring and Mod Podge to tint any glass the shade you want – this tutorial on how to color glass is amazing, and really easy!
Skills Required: None. Even if you’ve never Mod Podged before or have little crafting experience, you should have success with this project.
Learn how to make amber glass with a simple tutorial. Did you know that you can add food coloring to Mod Podge to make amber glass?? Yes, you can.
And you can use said food coloring/Mod Podge mixture to create a stained glass look on mason jars, like Carolina did. She’s going to have amber jars as one of the centerpieces at her wedding, and what a great budget way to do it.
Follow her tutorial to stain glass any shade that you like. Learn how to color glass with Mod Podge by reading her instructions below.
Faux Colored Glass. One of my wedding centerpiece elements will be amber glass jars. I chose amber to coordinate with the traditional brown glass of beer bottles.
Of the many Mod Podge and food coloring methods around, I chose to follow the tutorial at Carolyn’s homework because she had done some protocol troubleshooting.
For coloring, I started with the “light brown” recipe on the back of a food coloring box and tweaked it several times to get the right color.
Even with Carolyn’s instructions, it took S-I-X attempts to get my colored glass to look presentable. I didn’t even take a picture of the first attempt (the Mod Podge never dried!)
Amber Glass Attempts
No brush marks, bubbles or crusty goop! Here’s what I did below.
Amber Glass
Ingredients
- Glass Bottles
- Mod Podge Gloss
- Food Coloring
- Wax Paper
- Teaspoon
- Aluminum Foil
- Baking Pan
Total Cost = $4
If you have jars, Mod Podge, and food coloring on hand – this could be a free or very cheap project for you! I highly encourage you to save glass jars from the recycle bin just for this purpose.
Let’s get into the how-to. *You may notice the tutorial pictures are pieced together from different jar “attempts”!
Have you found a good mason jar painting method? I’d love to know in the comments! Enjoy!
How to Color Glass
Learn how to tint glass using Mod Podge and food coloring! You'll be able to dye glass any color you like with this tutorial.
Materials
- Glass jar(s)
- Mod Podge
- Food coloring
Tools
- Bowl
- Mixing spoon
- Wax paper (to cover work surface)
Instructions
- Clean the glass jar with soap and water or rubbing alcohol; let dry.
- Add two heaping tablespoons of Mod Podge to a container.
- Add 8 - 10 drops of food coloring (you can mix colors) plus 1/2 teaspoon water and mix well.
- Pour the Mod Podge into the jar and swirl to coat. Place upside down on your work surface to let drain. Allow to sit until all excess Mod Podge is fully drained.
- Turn over and allow to dry for 24 hours. Alternatively, you can place in a 200 degree oven and bake until dry (do not leave unattended).
Notes
The more thoroughly you mix the food coloring, the less streaking that will occur in the finished product.
If you notice the Mod Podge mixture doesn't reach certain areas of the jar inside, you can use a paintbrush to assist.
Jeanne Peters
Monday 20th of June 2022
What color (s) did you use to create the amber color?
Amy
Tuesday 21st of June 2022
4 drops red, 4 drops yellow, and 1 drop blue food coloring per 1 T of Mod Podge. You can add a little bit of water to thin it for pouring.
Kenda King
Sunday 5th of June 2022
Can I tint glass jars that I’m going to store olive oils and vinegars in?
Amy
Monday 6th of June 2022
You can - but you would want to paint the outside! You don't want it to be in contact with the fluids.
Jamie McLean
Friday 3rd of June 2022
Can you use acrylic paint in place of food coloring? I don’t have food coloring…
Amy
Friday 3rd of June 2022
Yes! You don't want to use much though because it's less transparent. Just a few drops to color it. ANd it will obscure the glass more than food coloring (but I still think you'll like it).
christi
Monday 14th of February 2022
i tried this and they came out of the oven with a ton of bubbles. i can’t seem to fix it either. when i let them air dry they are fine.
Amy
Monday 14th of February 2022
Hi Christi! Since every oven is different, it's hard to troubleshoot your particular case. I will say just let them air dry if that works for you! It sounds like the oven might be either heating up too fast or getting too hot (sometimes the indicator isn't correct on ovens as I know from baking). Not the fault of your oven, you'll just have to work around for this project. Thanks!
Summer Lamb
Wednesday 15th of December 2021
Would this work the sameone the outside of the glass? I have some glass mugs I want to color but I want the handle, steam and back to match.
Amy
Wednesday 15th of December 2021
I would recommend doing this with permanent glass paint if you are doing it on the outside. Because with glass mugs the Mod Podge will just wash off, unless you use Dishwasher Safe, and I think it would be more streaky to mix with food coloring than to just use a glass paint.