How to make Tinted Mason Jars

I just love using tinted Mason jars in pastel colors to decorate my home.  They can be used in so many different ways.  Fill them with flowers, candy, pasta or seashells to add a splash of color to any spot in your home. 

Tinted Mason Jars with straws and wooden beads decorationsHere is how to make tinted mason jars using food coloring.  This is an easy craft that you can decorate with year-round.

Supplies Needed

Supplies for tinted mason jars - https://janetscraftcorner.com/tinted-mason-jars/

 

Instructions for Making Tinted Mason Jars

Step 1: Clean the Jars

Remove all fingerprints and dust from both the inside and outside of your jars.  If you don’t, they will show up as marks on your tinted jars.

Step 2: Make the Tinting Solution

Making the dye for tinted mason jars - https://janetscraftcorner.com/tinted-mason-jars/

Add 1 tablespoon of Mod Podge into a plastic bowl.  Cheap disposable plastic cups are perfect for this.  Then add ½ teaspoon of water, followed by 6-8 drops of food coloring.  Adding more food coloring does not darken the color much and will result in a lot of streaking.  Mix well with a craft stick until no white Mod Podge is showing.

Step 3: Paint the Jar

Painting a mason jar - https://janetscraftcorner.com/tinted-mason-jars/

 

We are only painting the outside of the jar.  If you paint the inside and then add water for flowers, the stain will not hold and will eventually dissolve.  By painting the outside and then baking, we keep the inside safe for plants.  The color will last indefinitely. 

Use the foam brush to paint the outside of the jar.  Don’t worry about it having streaks, as these will go away after they are baked.  Be sure to paint the bottom of the jar as well.

Step 4:  Let the Jars Dry

Baking tinted mason jars - https://janetscraftcorner.com/tinted-mason-jars/

 

Place the painted jar upside down on the parchment paper.  Let it dry for an hour. It is normal for excess paint to drip off the jar onto the paper.

Step 5: Bake the Jars

Preheat your oven to 225 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Place your painted jars upright on the lined sheet and wipe off any excess Mod Podge mixture from the rims.  Place the baking sheet and jars into the oven and bake for at least 1 hour.  They are ‘done’ when the color has turned transparent.  When finished, remove the jars from the oven and let them cool completely before removing from the baking sheet.

Decorating with Tinted Mason Jars

Bee decor with a yellow tinted mason jar - https://janetscraftcorner.com/tinted-mason-jars/

Now you can decorate with your tinted mason jars! Here’s how I used one with some bee décor. You could also add cut flowers for a unique and colorful vase.  Stain them to match wedding colors and make table centerpieces.  How about patriotic colors for Memorial Day or July 4th?  The possibilities are endless.

I would love to hear what colors you used with your Mason  Jars and how you decorated with them.  Let me know what you did in the comments.

 

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29 Comments

  1. I like them. Can they be used as drinking glasses or are they just for flowers? I think too that they could be be tinted for Christmas in red, green, blue, but I’m not sure how you would get silver and gold.

    1. ModPodge is non-toxic so they could be used for drinking glasses, I would just do your best to keep it off the rim where your lips go for the best results. They could be tinted for Christmas (you can find gold and silver icing tint) but more vibrant colors are harder to achieve. If I were going to make vibrant colors, I would probably get the paste tinting rather than the gel or liquid versions.

  2. Hello Janet, did you bake your jars at 225celsius or 225fahrenheit ? 225C seems awfully hot to me – I don’t want glass exploding in my oven! Love this idea and thank you for sharing.
    Blessings,
    Irene 🙂

    1. I wear disposable gloves which helps a lot. I also just touch them up with the paint brush once they’re on the cookie sheet and ready to go into the oven.

  3. I want to pour a beverage inside of tinted jar. Will the color smear if it’s placed in cooler to keep chilled?

    1. The color won’t smear from liquid inside the jar but if it’s put in a cooler with ice/water around it the color will probably smear. I don’t know of any way to prevent that. If you do decide to try this, make sure you don’t get the color mixture on the rim of the jar as it is not food safe.

    1. I haven’t had this problem specifically but when I was making some glitter blocks I was having a similar problem with my glue clumping along the edges. I learned that if I always painted the glue on with the brush pulling over the edge from center rather than moving down along the side or letting the brush touch on the edge first, I had a lot less problems.
      Also, you don’t say how you’re standing them to dry. If you’re standing them rim down, it may be that you are getting too much Mod Podge on the glasses. I learned that it really doesn’t take much to get good color.
      Finally, try making your Mod Podge mixture with less food coloring. The food coloring is basically water compared to the Mod Podge so the more you use the more likely it is to run and clump.
      I hope these suggestions help. Let me know how it goes.

  4. Hi Janet! I am using this same formula to tint cut wine bottles but it’s leaving a thick clump of mod podge. Do you have any suggestions on how to avoid this? Thank you.

    1. Hi Sheri,
      I answered your second comment in a lot of details so I won’t repeat it here. I will only add that if you are going to use the glasses to drink out of make sure you are using food grade Mod Podge. They do make it but it can be hard to find.

  5. Thank you for this tutorial Janet! I have always wanted to do this but just assumed it was too much for me. You make it look so easy. I will try it this spring to make pink ones for candles in my outside fairy garden. Thanks again and have a great week!

  6. Janet,
    Now how interesting is this!! what a great idea and it does not seem to hard to do!! Love it!! Thanks so much for sharing and also for taking the time to visit!!
    Stay safe, healthy and happy!!
    hugs,
    Debbie

  7. How cool and clever Janet! I love colored jars, and paint and bake glass all the time, I can’t wait to try this! I saw your cute bee things, I bet you made them! Oh, btw, I have a sister named Janet and she’s married to a Bill!

    1. Hi Jenna,
      Yes, I made the bees, they were part of my summer tier tray, maybe I’ll write a post on that sometime.
      And, it is a small world, I have a niece named Jenna.
      Thanks.
      Janet.