Fearless Friday, Blue Hydrangea Cake Dome

the Painted Apron

1 year ago

I used to have a glass painting business

I hand painted glasses, and all kinds of tableware

and sold it in local shops in my area

I loved doing it, and enjoyed every minute

I loved creating fun designs for all different occasions

After about 15 years I was exhausted

and tired of working just about all day everyday

and so I “retired”

Many of my customers were friends and occasionally they will ask me

to please please could you paint me a ___________

“Hey Jenna, could you paint a cake dome for my mom”

asked one of HHjr’s friends

“She loves the one she has and now she wants one

for their new lake house” he said

“What should I put on it or what colors?” I asked

“Navy blue, white and green, oh and maybe light blue…” he said

Hmmmm….

Hydrangeas!

My method for painting hydrangeas is simple,

the blooms are created with dabs of paint

I started with dark blue for the bottom of the blooms,

and a few dabs in the middle

When I paint objects I use a towel covered lazy Susan

so I can easily spin it to paint all the sides

Next I mixed a medium blue for the blooms centers

Then I added white to the medium blue but barely mixed it

so it would mix on the glass as I dabbed it with my brush,

leaving some areas more white

Then I added a few leaves using a fat round brush

making quick leaf shaped strokes

Since I wasn’t sure exactly what shade of green she wanted,

I mixed a medium green with dark green and yellow

so many of the leaves had several green variations

I added white dots around the top knob

and a few in between the flowers around the dome

A line of leaves and blue dots are painted on the edge of the stand

I must admit I let this sit on my kitchen island for a few days

so I could enjoy it before I boxed it up!

Special Tips for Glass Painting

Always use a curable paint that is made for painting on glass. Curable means after the paint has dried for 24 hours, it is baked in the oven to make the glass safe for washing and top rack dishwasher safe. I use a Folk Art glass enamel available on Amazon here. It is not food safe so only use it on the edges of plates and platters if using for food
Practice your strokes on a piece of tin foil as it is slick like glass or ceramics
Keep a rag, Q-tips and clean water near by in case you make a mistake, you can wipe the paint right off before it dries and try again
Make dots by using the tip of the brush handle and dip it in paint then dab it on the surface. You can also use the eraser end of a pencil for larger dots
Use a lazy Susan to easily access all sides of the object you are painting

I ordered the cake dome from Amazon here

I love this style because you can use it in a variety of ways