How to Make Crayon Stained Glass Windows

In your child's eyes, nothing will compare to the masterpiece he has made with you.

Everyone loves the colorful beauty of stained glass windows. Children and adults alike enjoy the bright colors and the way the sun lights up the pictures from behind. However, making stained glass windows is hard, dangerous work. You have to deal with sharp glass, soldering irons and even molten metal. Most of us do not have the skills or the inclination to engage in this type of artistic endeavor, so we have to content ourselves with painting plastic, store-bought imitations of stained glass instead of working on the real thing. Fortunately, using crayons and an iron, you and your child can make your own stained glass windows--in your own designs. This simple craft project is fun and exciting, because you are creating a beautiful, bright work of art that can be proudly displayed in any sunny window.

Things You'll Need

• Wax paper
• Iron
• Crayons
• Crayon sharpener
• Pencil
• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Craft glue
• Clear tape

Instructions

1. 

   Draw a simple design on a piece of wax paper. It can be a line drawing of a flower, a geometric pattern or a simplified copy of a favorite work of art. Use the pencil to draw on the non-waxy side of the wax paper. The lines will show through as a guide.

2. Write down the color you want each part of your window to be.For example, if you want the flower petals to be pink and the leaves to be green, write "pink" inside the petals and "green" inside the leaves.

3. Sharpen the crayons you want to use for your picture. Keep the shavings--they are the most important part of this project!

4. Using the crayon shavings, fill in the lines of your picture . Do not skimp on the filling. The colors will not hold together and look like stained glass if you do not have enough shavings.

5. Place a second piece of wax paper on top of your crayon-shaving picture. Be very careful not to disturb the shavings when you put the second sheet down.

6. 

   Iron the two sheets of wax paper. You can use a high heat setting, but you must be careful to keep the iron in motion. Set it down on top of the shavings and slowly press your way across the picture. The shavings will melt together between the pieces of wax paper. You can stop ironing when the shavings are entirely melted and the picture is smooth.

7. Cut out a construction-paper frame. This can be any color and size you like, as long as it fits around your crayon "stained glass."

8. Glue the frame to the top of the stained glass picture so that it goes around the edge of the scene. The melted wax will hold the two sheets of wax paper together.

9. Trim off the excess wax paper. Any scraps that extend past the edge of the construction-paper frame should be removed.

10. Tape your crayon stained glass window to a pane of glass in a sunny place. Tape all four sides to keep it flat against the window. The sun will shine through the window and make a brilliant pattern though your picture, just as if it were real stained glass.

Tips & Warnings

• It is best to create patterns that fit inside a standard shape. For example, if you wish to draw a flower, once you have filled in the flower, draw a square around it and fill the background in as a blue or yellow color. This makes your picture more like a stained glass window, and also helps hold the wax paper together.

• If filling in a picture is too complicated, cut a simple shape out of the construction paper, then just melt a number of different-colored crayon shavings between the wax paper to make a large, flat blob. Then put the shaped frame over the blob to create an instant stained glass design.

• Be careful while ironing your creation. You must not hold the iron in one place for any length of time, or you can char your stained glass window and even start a fire.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Read about how to make a simpler version of this project here.