DIY Mercury Glass Nativity

Or at least a semi-mercury glass looking nativity ;P  This would have gone much more smoothly if I had read the directions on the Mirror glass spray paint can that said "Clear glass"...Oh well.  This will work for this year, and if I change my mind next year, I can spray paint it something else!

Here's what I started with:

I got this as a gift from my mother when I first got married.  Cute, but with our bland walls, it kind of disappeared.  I wanted to make it more noticeable.

I didn't take any pictures of the process, because I wasn't quite sure what I was doing ;P  I followed several different tutorials like the ones found here, here, and here.

I didn't clean them at all, because I wasn't 100% sure how to clean porous, unsealed ceramic.  I just sprayed 2 coats of the mirror glass paint, letting it dry in between.  Then I sprayed it with a mix of equal parts vinegar and water and sprayed another coat over that.  I let it sit for a minute or so, then got a paper towel and started dabbing at the wet spots.  That made it look mottled, and if it had been clear glass, might have been all I needed to do.  But, it wasn't - so then I took some black spray paint that I had nearby, sprayed it on a paper towel and started dabbing and wiping in random places.  I didn't want it TOO dark, so I wiped most of it off almost immediately after dabbing.  Spray paint dries quickly, so you can see how I didn't get as much off in places as I would have liked.  Oh well...

But I like how it settled into the crevices and made it look weathered and worn.  All in all, I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out.  Looks pretty nice on our new-to-us antique piano :D