Hey friends!  Thanks so much for all of your sweet comments and pins on our Mason Jar Planter Box we made our Meme.

As promised I am back to share a quick, easy and of course cute paint method to get that perfect “shanty” finish!

This is so simple and really fun to do!  You will need two paints…. A base coat and a top coat.

For your base coat you can use anything… Acrylic, latex and even spray paint.  I used acrylic here because it’s cheap and dries really quickly.  Here is the color I used.

Do you like my paper plate very professional paint tray?? 😉

First you want to put a coat of your base color on any surface that you want to peek through.  I like to shanty up the edges and corners so that is what I did.  You can paint the whole thing if you want it more distressed.

After that dries it’s time for your Vaseline!  Yup… Vaseline!

I like to get the tubes of it from the baby section at Target because it’s less messy.

Just rub a little vaseline on any surface you want to show through your top coat.  Again I did my corners and edges but you can add more or less depending on your taste!  The Vaseline will keep your top coat from sticking.

This is great because it softens your hands in the process ;-)!

After you have applied your vaseline it is time for your top coat!  I used latex paint for mine.  I do think it distresses the best, but you can also use acrylic.  Mine is an Olympic color called Off White… Pretty easy!  I put one coat over the entire box. Depending on the color you may want to use two coats.

Now let that dry really good!  Once it is dry it’s time for the fun part!  I use an 80-grit sanding block to distress mine, and you can also use steel wool.  Just rub your corners lightly to reveal the base coat.  The more you sand it the more shanty it will look!  Just sand it until you are pleased with the look!  SO DARN EASY!

Want to see my results???

What do you think??  I love it!  It’s just shanty enough 😉 This works great on furniture as well!

If you missed the whole tutorial on the Mason Jar Planter Box you can click the photo below to check it out!

And as always… We would greatly appreciate you pinning and sharing this tip below! Thanks guys!

Ashley and Whitney Blog post signature

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

83 Comments

  1. Love this and had to try. Had an issue with the paint brush getting globby (if that is a word) from the Vaseline. Any tips for that? Thanks for sharing

    1. Try using candle wax. Just use a plain wax candle rub it on. Then very lightly use a brush to knock off any loose globs, and then paint.

  2. Love your work! I’m a new fan 🙂 I love distressed furniture && everything old {including mason jars 😉 }! You should stop by and checkout my blog sometime! Can’t wait to see what you will do next 🙂

  3. Love it! Think I am going to do this with single or two jars for a smaller version too! Thanks for all the tips!

  4. I love all your projects! Have already made the $20 wall shelves, this will be next on my To Do List, thanks for the great tutorials!

  5. I will try this. Since now I used candlewax or Savon de Marseille but I think Vaseline will work better.
    Thank you for such a good idea,
    Amicalement,
    Anne (from France)

  6. I absolutely love your blog! You are so talented ! Thanks for the cute mothers day gift idea, I’m in LOVE!

  7. Candle wax has the same effect, just rub the candle along the areas you want to show through your second coat of paint.

  8. I like this. What is the purpose of using the vaseline? Does it protect the base color? I’ve done double colors and sanded before …but never used vaseline. Good job.