How to Make a Temporary Stained-Glass Window From Tissue Paper

Stained-glass windows permit colorful light to play on your walls and floors. Here is an easy way to create the same look using tissue paper and laundry starch. What a great temporary way to decorate your windows for the holidays!

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Butcher Papers
• Liquid Laundry Starches
• Foam Brushes

1. Draw a pattern for your "stained-glass" window. It should be the same size as the actual window. Use butcher paper or newsprint to draft your design. Some suggestions are wreaths, bells, Christmas stockings and clusters of holly leaves with berries.
2. Purchase tissue paper in a variety of colors. Use lighter colors for the background of your design, with darker colors in the foreground to make your creation stand out.
3. Tear or cut the tissue paper into pieces. The pieces will fit into your design like a mosaic.
4. Begin by placing the background pieces of tissue onto the pattern. Use different colors of the same hue for a dramatic effect. For example you might use light green, lime green, yellow green and blue green for the background.
5. Tear more pieces of tissue to form the main body of the design. If your design is light-colored, such as a yellow bell, leave a void in the background so that the color can shine through clearly.
6. Fit the pieces together loosely. Overlapping is good - it will create a beautiful effect.
7. Paint a small section of the window with liquid laundry starch.
8. Place the torn tissue directly on to the prepared area of the window, smoothing it into the wet starch.
9. Work small areas of the window at a time, painting on the starch and laying in the tissue. Mistakes make for interesting designs!
10. Continue to paint the starch and lay the tissue until the design is complete.

Tips & Warnings

• A small piece of cardboard makes a perfect squeegee to press out the major wrinkles.
• Leave areas of clear glass so that you can see outside and allow a bright beam of light to shine through.
• Clean up is easy: Simply peel the tissue off the window, and clean the window with glass cleaner.

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