Stained Glass Window Art Projects

Replicate the look of stained glass with a few craft supplies.

The history of stained glass windows goes back over 1,000 years. Churches and the homes of the very rich had windows that portrayed religious stories or scenes from the owners' lives. The process to make real stained glass is very complex, involving sand, wood ash, pigment and lead, and requires many years of practice to master the skills needed. However, you can create your own stained glass art projects using materials available from a craft store.

Colored Film

Draw your design on a piece of paper and cut out the various shapes to form templates. Place the templates on different colors of self-adhesive film and cut out all the shapes. Arrange the shapes back into the design on a sheet of glass, leaving a small gap between the pieces. Remove the backing paper from the film and press the film firmly down on to the glass. Fill in the small gaps with liquid lead. Allow everything to dry, then hang the stained glass window or place it on the window sill of a sunny window.

Glass Paint

Draw the design for your window on a piece of paper and place it under a sheet of clear acetate. On the acetate, trace around the design with a thick black marker. Color in the design with craft glass paints. Paint one color at a time and wash your brush between colors. After it is dry, punch holes in the top of the acetate and thread yarn through to hang it up.

Wax Crayons

Sharpen some wax crayons in a large pencil sharpener to create wax shavings. Cut or tear the shavings into smaller pieces and arrange them in a design between two sheets of wax paper. Place a hot iron on the wax paper until the crayon melts. Glue this sheet of wax stained glass to black construction paper to create an abstract stained glass window design.

Tissue Paper

Draw your stained glass design on a piece of black construction paper. Carefully cut out the different shapes, cutting holes where the colors will be and leaving some black paper between the shapes. Turn the construction paper over and place glue around the holes. Lay pieces of colored tissue paper over the holes and press them firmly into the glue. Allow the glue to dry and hang your stained glass design in a sunny window.

References

• Create Stained Glass: Stained Glass History
• HGTV: Faux Stained-Glass
• Elmers: Stained Glass Candle
• Kaboose: Melted Crayon Stained Glass Window
• Squigly's Arts & Crafts: Stained Glass Window