Instructions for Faux Stained Glass

Stained glass art

Real stained glass projects require quite a few special tools, not to mention the technique and experience necessary to create beautiful works of stained glass art. Not everyone has a steady enough hand to cut or solder the glass, or the money to pay for the equipment or a finished piece. Fortunately, anyone can create their own work of faux stained glass with a few inexpensive supplies from the craft store. Creating a faux stained glass art project is fast and simple, even for beginning crafters.

Things You'll Need

• Glass cleaner
• Soft cloth
• Stained glass design outline
• Sheet of glass or acrylic
• Thin line permanent marker
• Self-adhesive leading strips
• Stained glass paint
• Toothpicks

Instructions

1. Clean both sides of the glass or acrylic with glass cleaner. Dry the glass completely.

2. Cover the desired stained glass outline with the sheet of glass or acrylic. Stained glass patterns are available in craft stores and from online suppliers. You can also use a page from a coloring book as your design outline.

3. Trace the outline of the design pattern with a thin line permanent marker. The lines will be covered by the leading strips, so they will not show in your completed project.

4. Cover the marker outlines with self-adhesive leading strips. Peel the protective cover from the back of the strips and press them on top of the marker lines and onto the glass. Leading strips are flexible so you can curve, bend and shape them as needed. Abut the strips end to end to make a line longer than the individual strip.

5. Fill in between the leading strips with the desired color of stained glass paint. Apply the paint to the glass through the tip on the paint bottle. Hold the bottle in your hand like a pencil, with the tip close to the glass. Squeeze the paint bottle to squirt the paint directly onto the surface of the glass.

6. Pop any air bubbles that appear in the paint with a toothpick. Stained glass paint is translucent and shimmering, similar to real stained glass, but the application process can cause air bubbles to rise in the paint. Your faux stained glass project will look more like the real thing if you remove as many of the air bubbles as possible.

7. Allow the paint to dry completely before standing the glass upright.

References

• Plaid Online: Stained Glass for Everyone

Resources

• Chantal Stained Glass: Free Stained Glass Patterns