How to Make Paper Stained Glass Greeting Cards

Making a paper stained glass greeting card adds a creative and elegant touch to a homemade card. You might consider making a bunch of these to use as your family’s Christmas card. Making paper stained glass greeting cards would be a good family project to get your children involved in too. If you have a lot of people on your annual Christmas card list, this makes the project easier and more fun to have more than one person involved in creating your paper stained glass Christmas cards.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Card stock
• Waxed paper
• Different colours of tissue paper
• Iron
• Scissors
• Craft glue
• Ruler
• Pencil

1. Buy one piece of card stock for each card you will be making. Fold the card in half, then set aside.

2. Use two pieces of waxed paper about the size of the front half of the folded card. Put it on your work surface.

3. Cut squares of the different colours of tissue paper from the big sheets, approximately 5 or 6 inches. This just makes it easier to cut the smaller pieces you will need than to deal with large sheet of tissue paper. Cut the squares into small shapes like triangles, squares or thin strips. You can be as detailed or simple as you like. Set the cut tissue shapes in piles by colour.

4. Put the pieces of cut tissue paper on the piece of waxed paper in whatever arrangement you like. Don’t layer them too thick or the waxed paper will not bond when heated. Put the other piece of waxed paper on top, then iron the two together carefully, moving the iron around slowly until the pieces of waxed paper melt and bond together. Let it cool for a few moments before you move it.

5. Cut a window in the front of the card using scissors. Make sure you leave at least a ¾ inch frame around the opening on the front of the card. It will frame the stained glass tissue paper insert.

6. Trim the ironed pieces of waxed paper with the tissue paper inside so that it fits over the opening on the inside of the card front and extends ¼ inch to ¾ inch over the cut surface.

7. Put glue on that extended portion of the cardstock. Spread it carefully. Don’t use too much glue or it will smear onto the stained glass tissue window. Set the stained glass piece in place and press it in the glue gently. Let it sit and dry completely.

[nicbrz]

on 8/26/2009 What a cute idea!

[thebeaddoodler]

on 11/25/2008 Wonderful bit of nostalgia. We used to use crayon shavings instead of tissue paper. (because that's what we had). Thanks for sharing.