Christmas Stained Glass Suncatcher

To Print: "File" > "Print" Click here if you need paints, brushes or other supplies. Decoart Liquid Rainbow Colors Lemon Lime  (1) Leaf Green  (2) Dark Green  (3) Christmas Red  (4) Primary Yellow  (5) Orange Lollipop  (6) Primary Blue  (7) Gold Pearl  (8) White Pearl  (9) Crystal Glitter  (10) Black Leading Piece of plain glass, approximately 8 x 11 inches, with edges sanded or ground to avoid injury (use heavy sandpaper and gloves or a Dremel with a sanding disc on low speed - use a mask to avoid breathing glass dust!).

Okay, I know this isn't exactly a tole painting project, but I had so much fun with it I wanted to share (ahh...to be a kid again :-). Decoart's Liquid Rainbow paints are transparent and can be used to create suncatchers or decorative dimensional stickers that will adhere to glass, mirrors, and other smooth surfaces. It's a great way to spend an afternoon with the kids, letting them pick their own patterns. The image above really doesn't do this project justice, as getting a good web quality image was difficult against sunlight. In reality, it sparkles and glitters and really does look like stained class. Instructions Right-click (or click and hold for Mac users) on the line drawing at the bottom of this page and save it to your hard drive. Open the image in any graphics program and print. This should print out the correct size for the project (approximately 8 x 11 inches). Repeat the same process for the image of the finished suncatcher if desired for reference. Click here to print only the text instructions. Scotch tape the pattern to the backside of your glass, pattern-side up, so you're viewing the pattern through the glass. A few helpful tips for using Decoart Liquid Rainbow paints: This paint is applied directly from the bottle tips - using a paint brush will not apply a thick enough coat. There are 26 colors available and two colors can be mixed to create new colors. To lighten a color, add Snowflake White. To make colors more transparent, add Raindrop. The paints are water-based and easily clean up with soap and water. Do not shake bottles before use (this will create tiny bubbles in your suncatcher). To apply leading, hold the bottle at a slight upright angle as you would hold a pencil. For a smooth flow and even thickness, do not drag the tip on the surface, but hold slightly above surface. I found that adding a few drops of water to the bottle made the leading more manageable and gave a smoother application; however, it's very easy to get too much water, so add only a drop or two at a time. To achieve a thicker line of leading, move the bottle tip along the line of the design slowly; to achieve a thinner line, slightly increase the speed of application. Apply your suncatcher to the glass with the suncatcher at room temperature; be careful when removing from a cold surface, as this could cause the paint to crack (finished projects are recommended for indoor use only). Apply leading to your design. Your project should look like this after all the leading is finished. Using the line drawing below and the coordinating paint color numbers above, fill in all areas of the suncatcher with the appropriate colors. You want a fairly thick layer of paint, but some colors will lose their transparency if you apply them too thickly. Experiment on a corner of your glass for the proper effect. When filling in the candle flame, first apply a blue dot of Primary Blue; allow this to dry and then fill in the rest of the area with Orange Lollipop. The white area surrounding the flame is filled in with Crystal Glitter. Apply Primary Blue, Lollipop Orange, Christmas Red and Leaf Green to the candles where indicated - the remainder of the candles should be filled in with White Pearl. All berries are done in Christmas Red. The wintergreen leaves are Dark Green and the remaining leaves are Leaf Green. Drying time is approximately two hours; however, I found that it varied with the paint color/texture and recommend you allow the finished piece to dry overnight before peeling it off the glass. Click here if you would like further information about Decoart Liquid Rainbow paints.

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