Mercury glass ornaments

While wandering through my new favorite thrift store I happened upon an entire bookshelf of glass christmas ornaments. there they sat, at least a hundred of them in their old and tattered boxes. The colorful paint on the glass balls had long ago started to chip and peel and clearly no one wanted them or they'd already be gone. Long ago these balls had glimmered and shone brightly on someones tree, and were certainly looked on with wonder by a child. So for less than $2 I purchased at least 60 of them, all different fading colors and sizes. I figured if nothing else I could cover them in paper or ribbon.

Well do you know what I learned...? I learned that if you take these old damaged ornaments and lightly wash them with acetone free nail polish remover you get these amazing silver and mercury glass ornaments. Some of them look brand new and some of them look like true antique mercury glass but together they all look stunning on a tree. I have wanted a large collection of all silver antique glass ball ornaments for ages but could never see paying so much for them. These once treasured ornaments were rescued form a certain landfill fate and I have a beautiful and vintage christmas tree.

Place ball in container

fill container 1/2 way with polish remover and lightly agitate with brush. I would recommended using a brush you can throw out afterward. Make sure you cover the hole at the top of the ornament or the polish remover will destroy the inside paint too. Once all the paint is loose and oozy rinse the ornament under warm water.

And you end up with beautiful mercury glass ornaments that have a slightly tattered and very antique look. I'll show you some Christmas tree action shots in a few days.

Peace and shiny objects!