Mercury Glass Candles

The gift of hospitality, and an artistically gifted designer=Yvonne. After talking about it for a year, we finally had CRAFT NIGHT with the ladies! My very gifted, artistic, and generous friend Yvonne, hosted five women for an evening of cooking, dining and candle making.

Take one simple glass, and metamorphosis into a faux mercury glass candle.

A few weeks earlier Yvonne designed a party for some fabulous event. When she arrived to set-up, she discovered that the previous event planner had left behind 50+ glasses, and she could take them.  So she came up with a way to turn them into something fa-la-la-fabulous, and showed us how she did it.

First she painted the glass with silver paint, then used a wet paper towel to "sponge" it off.  Repeated that step with gold.  Then she hot glue gunned buttons and beads.

 Behold, the fruits of our craftiness.

Next, she melted wax in a double boiler.

We rolled the wick around a pen, then rested it on the glass edge.

She poured the melted wax into the glass...

 We left it to harden, and ate pasta and salad! 

 Faux and authentic mercury glass.  Who knew it could be so simple?  Fa-la-la-fabulous!

 Imagine what else you could do to create faux mercury anything.  Get ideas from Pottery Barn's Mercury Shop.

I love this
Etched Antique Mercury Glass Canister 
and this
Paros Mercury Glass Lanterns
 and these Etched Mercury Glass Bath Accessories

We were invited back Friday night for a fa-la-la-fabulous dinner party, celebrating Christ's birth with our spouses and other members of our wonderful Bible Study group. What an amazing home, and decorated with such panache and style (next week post)!  Metamorphosis wonderland!

“Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed."
~Proverbs 9:1-5

Here's what I found out about Mercury Glass from the WiseGeeks.
Mercury glass was first created in Germany in the early 1800s. It was used as a more inexpensive material for candlesticks, vases, goblets, and other objects. Silvered glass quickly gained popularity in France, England, Bohemia, and the United States. The New England Glass Company showed a large display of the glass at the New York Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1853; included in the display were goblets, vases, spittoons, sugar basins, tumblers, and more. 

The New England Glass Company showed a large display of the glass at the New York Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1853; included in the display were goblets, vases, spittoons, sugar basins, tumblers, and more. Although some critics dismissed mercury glass as being too showy and looking too mirror-like, most people found it very attractive. 

One of the common uses for this measurement is determining the efficiency of evaporative coolers in dry regions. In general, a psychrometer or mercury glass bulb thermometer is used for measuring the wet bulb temperature of a location.