Woman Turns An Ordinary Glass Bowl Into Gorgeous Faux-Stone Decor On A Budget

Decorative bowls elevate your decor, whether you display them alone or add fillers, like faux fruit, wine corks, fancy soaps, or seasonal fillers. You can even use bowls as unique ways to display your plants. Finding a bowl you love that's also in your desired price range isn't always easy. Fortunately, there are plenty of crafty, creative people in the world to inspire DIY versions of upscale bowls. Take Instagram creator @mintandpinehome, aka Irina Mazhukhin, for example. She shows how to turn a plain glass bowl into a faux stone piece worthy of the spotlight.

And all it takes is a little acrylic paint and some baking soda. When you mix baking soda with acrylic paint, it adds texture to the finished product. It also gives it a matte finish, which is why it works so well to replicate the stone look. This budget-friendly project is easy to do, but it takes patience, since you'll need to apply multiple layers.

While the inspiration project uses a plain glass bowl, similar to this Quald Glass Mixing Bowl, you can use the same technique on any glass bowl. Choose one with a unique silhouette or a pedestal-style base to give your stone-like piece even more character. Or, try it on smaller glass pieces, like a mason jar or fishbowl vase (then try one of these genius ways to use a Dollar Tree fishbowl). Thrifting the glass bowl or choosing a piece from Dollar Tree keeps the cost low. If you want to use a more expensive glass piece as the base, test it out on an inexpensive item first to perfect your technique.

In our inspiration project, the bowl takes on a beige color, which the creator achieves by mixing light brown paint with white paint. Light gray paint offers more of a concrete look. Or, work in browns, reds, and oranges to achieve a terracotta color. If you want to mix things up, use different colors on the inside and outside, or do a mix of colors all over the bowl. Once you've achieved your perfect paint color, sprinkle a little baking soda in — start with about 1 tablespoon of baking soda for a cup of paint. Test it out and add more baking soda if you want to change the texture.

Brush on a thin base layer of the baking soda paint over a clean, dry bowl, on both the inside and outside. Once that layer is dry, dab on a second coat, followed by a third. Dabbing the paint on with the brush on subsequent layers can prevent knocking off the previously applied texture. 

When you're happy with the look, let the paint dry fully before putting the bowl in its permanent spot. It works well on a shelf or as a table centerpiece. Since adding baking soda to the paint changes its makeup, the paint might crack or rub off easier than normal — put the bowl in a spot where it won't receive much traffic to protect the finish. And if you want to continue the stone look, try this method of upgrading a worn-down planter into a faux stone plant stand.