Gold Leaf Barware DIY

It all started with this Barclay Butera barware I discovered on A Creative Day.  The decanter and tumblers are absolutely fabulous... no?

Well I looked them up online, and each tumbler is $21, and the decanter is $57.  Holy moly - the set is absolutely beautiful, but it's just not realistic for my "budget" right now.

                
After falling in love with this lovely barware, and knowing it wasn't going to happen, I started scheming, and decided that my Ikea tumblers were getting a makeover... ASAP.

Here's what we started out with - simple, solid, glass tumblers... $4.99 for a six pack!  Can't beat that price! As a side note, do you like my mani??  It's OPI's Everyday is Oktoberfest if you are interested...

I still had some liquid gold leaf left over from sea fan shadowbox project, and so last night I got to work giving these tumblers a snazzy makeover.

There was nothing planned or precise about it - I didn't want them to be all the same, and since gold leaf has some texture, it was easier to just go with the flow and freehand it... and I think it turned out pretty well!

This paint dries in seconds, so by the time I finished the last glass, the first one was completely dry, and I was able to arrange them back on the chrome platter they live on in the dining room.  Don't you love that instant satisfaction??

And here they are - with the low light night pictures, the candles show how shiny the gold leaf is - all glowy and pretty :-)

Not bad, right??  While my glasses don't have the lovely honeycomb pattern of the Barclay Butera tumblers, they cost me $5, and that sure beats the $120 price tag for six of the Barclay tumblers.

Would they stand up to hard scrubbing or a dishwasher?? I wouldn't count on it, but since they are only used occasionally for cocktails, and I am the "dishwasher" in our house, I think they'll be just fine.  Worst case scenario??  I dab some more gold leaf paint on there when they chip.

Brilliant!