Mother's Day Gift - Stained Glass (faux)

This is how I made a beautiful keepsake for the mother of my children. It's a (faux) Stained glass panel.

What you'll need
Stained glass paint
'Painting' utinsel (not paint brush. more like chop stick or tooth pick)
Glass pane
frame (optional)
razor (optional depending on frame)
hot glue & gun (optional used with frame)
sharpie (optional depending on design)

Step 1: Getting the Supplies

I bought the frame and glass from the dollar store. It was one of these sealed deco pictures. It was an ideal size and I liked the frame and thought it would work well with the project.

The Glass paint were all the gallery glass paint. (same brand as this https://www.amazon.com/Gallery-Glass-Window-17030-31-Colors/dp/B001BPXJME)

I bought mine from hobby lobby. I bought one bottle of 'lead' and one red bottle and one bottle of blue and one bottle of clear and on multi color strip. if you are doing a large pane I wouldn't recommend the multi strip. just cause I ran out of the colors I liked quickly. I'd go with the bottles especially if you have a set plan or image you are doing.

Overall I'm into the project for about 25.

Step 2: Prep the Glass

My $1 dollar frame had to be disassembled. If your glass is ready to go you can skim past the disassembly. I used a straight razor to cut the corners and cut the glue. Be very careful if you are doing this. I discarded the picture and cardboard and kept just the glass and frame.

The key ingredient for this mother's day gift is the kiddos hand prints. I traced their hands using a sharpie. They had fun, but stole the marker and have me another project to do along the lines of repainting, so be mindful of your marker if your kids are off the drawing on the wall age.

Step 3: Laying Out the Lead

So in this strip I traced the hand prints on the other side of the glass to make sure the ink didn't interfere with the 'lead' paint. When I say lead paint, it's not really lead, it's lead colored and simulates the lead that would be the in real Stained glass. Make sure you have plenty of the lead colored paint. it's mission critical.

I traced the hands and free handed the rest. One could have just as easily drawn out everything with the sharpie to make sure they like the design before committing in paint, but I'm a risk taker.

Step 4: Add Color

I did a lot of experimenting during this part.

First off, solid colors work well.

I like swirly stuff, but it's a little tricky. I tried to create swirly by adding the swirl colors first and then the main color. This was a bad strategy. reason being was that it was swirly on the top but on the under side of the glass it was just dots. You can see this in a few pics.

So keep in mind you can look at the back side of the glass to see what that side will look like.

So to get a good swirly look, lay down a full base color (Crystal clear works well for this). On the top put the colors you want to swirl.

When it comes to applying the paint I really like the bottles because they have convenient nozzles. To manipulate the paint I used disposable chop sticks and tooth picks.

The thicker you apply the paint the thicker it will appear and longer it will take to dry. you design will really dictate these aspects. I made thick lead and wanted a deep look so I laid it thick.

Step 5: Add Frame (Optional)

This is where the true cost of the frame came in. I got it, but it involved some swearing and hot glue. After I got the frame put on, put the 'lead' paint around the edge. This tied the frame and pane together.

Voila. it's a beautiful faux stained glass piece with our children's hand prints memorized. Have a happy mother's day.