Glass Painting is a Great Relaxer

Art Therapy

This has recently become my "go to" art therapy. It is so relaxing to paint a simple design on glass. I started doing this following one of those "drinking and painting" girls' night out sessions where we learned the ins and outs of glass painting. The class was sponsored by Drinkable Arts and was great fun. Since then, glass painting has been for winding down on the weekends.

What You Need

Clean, dry glassware (Dollar Tree has a great, inexpensive selection)

Paint for glass - I use Plaid's Folk Art Enamels

Glass Writing Pens - Great for words and fine lines - I use Deco Art Glass Paint Markers

Alcohol Prep Pads (to erase mistakes and clean painting surface)

Paint brushes (don't go cheap on your brushes - buy quality ones)


How to Paint Glasses

I generally look for ideas online. If you search for glass painting ideas, you won't have any problem finding many options. Make sure your glass is clean and dry. I generally wipe the glass with some alcohol pads just to make sure there are no remaining fingerprints and oils.

Once you select an idea, start painting. Do not water down paint; use it straight from the bottle. Remember that the paint is only safe for the outside, so don't paint the interior of a drink ware.  If you make a mistake or change your mind about your design, alcohol will take the paint off cleanly. The alcohol prep pads do the trick nicely.

Also, painting the stem and foot of stemware is a nice option. Dots are easy to create with the stick end of your brush and look great for many designs. I find it hard to write words and lined designs with a brush, so that's where I use the paint pens.

Allow your glasses to dry a minimum of 8 hours, overnight seems to work well. Once they have dried, place the glasses in a cold oven on a baking sheet. Turn on the oven to 350-375 degrees (per instructions on paint) and allow to bake 30 minutes. Turn off oven and allow to cool. This will prevent cracking of your creations.

Once cool, your glassware is dishwasher safe on the top rack. I've washed one of my glasses almost 20 times in the dishwasher without any paint chipping.

Stained Glass Mosaic Stepping Stone

I took a class on how to make a stained glass mosaic stepping stone at our local stained glass store, Anything Goes With Glass. I had a Groupon so that I could afford the class. I took the class with a friend's daughter who is an amazing artist (no pressure for me!)

They provided a pre-cut stained glass focal for us. I chose a flower and they also provided a center glass stone for the project. This is how they get rid of their glass scrap pieces. They had all sorts of types of glass. I decided on an abstract pattern (the only one in the class who did this - I just didn't want to be compared to the artist next to me.) We selected glass and glued our pieces onto a concrete stepping stone. You have to be careful that none of the glass extends beyond the edges, otherwise when someone steps on it, it can crack and break off.

We went to lunch while the glue dried. When we returned it was time to grout. We were given black grout for the project. I was glad I chose primarily light-colored glass because it really pops with the dark grout. We were shown how to mix the grout to the consistency of thick frosting. We applied it to the glass with a grout float and spread it evenly across the glass. We then wiped the excess off with a damp rag. We got the final haze off the glass with an eraser (which works really great to shine up the glass).

I used grout sealer when I got home so that the stepping stone would be weatherproof. I was pleased with the final product. If you haven't tried mosaic, it is really fun and rewarding.