An Easy and Inexpensive Decorator Accent Vase

Quite often when decorating especially for the holidays, that little extra something is needed.  While the stores are filled with a multitude of decorations to choose from, it is nicer to create a custom-made decoration or accent piece.  We arrived home from our vacation home on December 22^nd, leaving only two days to get the house ready for Christmas.  I turned to my extensive craft supplies along with the purchases I made at Hobby Lobby.  Goodness that is a crafter's mecca!

I bought a tall, straight sided vase, glittered twigs, glass beads and Santa Ice Crystals at Hobby Lobby.  I had never seen the ice crystals spray before.  This is a temporary spray frost that can be sprayed on windows, mirrors or any glass surface to create a Jack Frost effect.  The spray contains no CFCs or other ozone-depleting substances.  It can be remove using window cleaner.

The glitter twigs are quite easy to make at home using twigs collected from trees in your yard or along your daily walk.  Allow them to dry until hard then spray with spray adhesive and sprinkle with glitter colour of choice.  I bought them simply because with the move I did not collect any twigs this past fall.  The artificial sprigg and glittery ribbon came from my craft supplies.

I don't have a specific crafting area established in our new home so simply used the counter in the kitchen.  I wan't worried about getting any of the ice crystal spray on the counter as it can easily be removed.  Still, I protected the counter with newspaper. 

I washed and dried the vase then turned it upside down on the newspaper.  Pictured is the vase just after being sprayed with the ice crystals spray.   I held the can about a foot from the vase when spraying.  The spray is quite thin, just sheeting the glass.  The spray is not tacky but it does have a bit of an odour .  It takes a few minutes for the ice crystals to start forming.

I sprayed from the top of the inverted vase to the bottom open end.  The instructions said the ice crystals would form within a half hour but I found they started forming within ten minutes.  As the spray dried the ice crystals formed giving a unique, Jack Frost look very similar to the frozen ice crystals that used to appear on our windows during the winter in my childhood home.  The picture does not do the effect justice.  It is a rather pretty look giving the vase a unique look.

I let the vase dry for about an hour until the entire vase was covered with ice crystals.  Then I removed it from the newspaper so I could begin decorating it.

Pictured is the finished decorator accent vase.  I decided against using the sprigg and chose the glittery ribbon with red, green and gold tones rather than the solid gold glittery ribbon.  I used the ribbon, a dollar store find, to further accent a candy bowl and candle centerpiece for a co-ordinated look.  I poured the glass beads into the vase first before adding the glittery twigs.  This hid the ends giving a snowy effect to compliment the frosted ice crystal effect.  It was simple and very inexpensive at under $2.

What I really like about this type of craft is after the event, the craft can be dismantled with the components put back into my craft supplies to be re-used in another craft at some point.  I really enjoyed working with the ice crystals spray.  We have side windows on each side of our entrance door.  I'm thinking of spraying them just to see if I like the frosted look rather than sheers.  The nice thing is the spray can be left as long as I like so if I don't like the look I can simply wash it off!  This crafting product gets two-thumbs-up in my book for versatility.

I placed the decorator accent vase in the dining room atop the vintage cabinet I refinished years ago.  The reindeer was made several years ago when I was heavily into ceramics.  The painting is one in our collection of painting from a local artist.  We have known this artist for several years.  Each painting is numbered, signed and comes with a story.  They are very unique!  The look of each painting does change with the lighting conditions taking on it's own persona.  This particular one reminds me of the sand dunes at Pinery Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada where we spent many a weekend camping with the kids.

The decorator accent vase just gave that little extra to that spot for the holiday season.  I might leave it as is for awhile before changing out the look for one that will work elsewhere.  It was an interesting, fun little project that was easily finished in just a little over an hour but the actual work time was only about 10 minutes if that.  I hope you like it!

Garden Gnome
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