Dollar Decorating: painted dollar store vase

I have a love/hate relationship with the dollar store (the ones that actually sell everything for a dollar, not the ones where all the prices are in increments of $1, those are just misleading).  They sell a lot of junk, a lot is overpriced, and it can be too easy to come out with more planned.  Two of things I have found to be good deals there are cards (2/$1!) and glass containers.  They don't have a huge selection but the ones they do have are much better priced than anywhere else. 

I've been working on adding some more color to our kitchen and specifically wanted a vase of sorts to put our wine corks in.  A trip to the dollar store turned up a vase the size I wanted and then I just added some paint.  I'm a big fan of paint.

Painted glass jar

What you will need:
-a glass container, jar, vase of some sort. 
-acrylic paint (I used the bottle from Luke's "L" and that Matt used on my iPhone speakers)
-a paint brush
-a steady hand or painters tape (I used the same roll from my bedroom signs)

I wanted a stripe at the top and bottom and just eyeballed putting the tape on.  I then applied 3 coats of paint over about 36 hours, making sure each coat was fully dry before the next.  I made sure to paint onto the tape so there would be a clean line.

Once I was done with the 3rd coat, and happy with the coverage, I carefully removed the tape while that coat was still wet.  I didn't want the tape peeling off dried paint from the glass.  I used my finger nail to "cut" the paint away from the tape to keep my line as clean as possible.  It wasn't perfect was was pretty good.  Then I let it dry for 24 hours.

Here's an up close, dried paint shot. 

And further away the paint strokes aren't nearly as visible.

I really like that it brings some more color to our kitchen while keeping with our blue/green accents and that it also ties in with the iPhone speaker that lives on the counter.  This is my Valentine's Day styling and I really like this green, blue, and pink together.  Maybe did a happy dance when I put them all together. 

Total cost for this project (already having paint, tape, and brushes) was $1.07.  A small bottle of acrylic paint at a craft store is about $0.75-$3.00, full priced.  (I will buy a $0.75 bottle of paint there at full cost but anything much more than that make sure to use a coupon!  It's so easy to find them for places like Jo-Anns, Hobby Lobby, or Michaels.  I think the cheapest paint at Hobby Lobby is better than the cheapest paint at Jo-Anns and the cost is about the same.)