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.
Wendy Lawing
Saturday 25th of February 2023
Amy, what am I doing wrong? My jar has streaks and still some white places of mod podge
Amy
Tuesday 28th of February 2023
Hard to say! Come join our Facebook group and provide more detail and images: https://www.facebook.com/groups/craftywithmodpodge
Paula
Wednesday 8th of February 2023
Does anyone happen to have a guide/cheat sheet that tells you how many drops of each color (red, yellow, green or blue) to mix with the modpodge to reach a desired shade of a color... such as a asparagus green or a light chocolate brown? TYI!
Amy
Tuesday 28th of February 2023
Hi Paula! If you search food coloring mixing chart you can find some that are used for food but I'd use the same amount of drops for your Mod Podge!
Lora
Sunday 29th of January 2023
Hey I am trying to do a large wine bottle but on one I can’t get the modge podge /food coloring mix to dry . I have read a lot of these sites say wash the bottle with soap and water or alcohol. I didn’t use rubbing alcohol. Could this be why I am having problems? I thought since it had wine im it , it would be ok. I had it soaking in a bucket of soap & water to get the label off before trying the mix to stain it so I thought it would be clean enough. Appreciate any advice. Thank you!
Amy
Tuesday 31st of January 2023
Hi Lora! Are you talking about on the inside or outside? If it's on the outside, the Mod Podge will eventually dry. If it's on the inside, then you probably have a thinner mouth to the bottle and air isn't getting into the bottle to dry. Try putting it into the oven at the lowest temp and watch it - it will start drying. Make sure you kept the bottle turned over too - to get the excess out. Not using rubbing alcohol isn't your problem - soap and water is fine. The Mod Podge just needs air to dry. If it's not, it's either too thick or it's not getting enough air. The oven will help!
Brenda
Sunday 4th of December 2022
Can I put food in the jar? Can it be washed?
Amy
Sunday 4th of December 2022
Hi Brenda! It's not food safe, so no, it would have to be wrapped food. But they are great for candies and other wrapped foods for the holidays!
Hs project
Thursday 1st of December 2022
If my mod podge is this would you recommend watering it down a drop to be able to swirl it more easily?
Amy
Sunday 4th of December 2022
You can add a tiny bit of water but the Mod Podge swirls around by itself okay usually!