Here’s a step by step tutorial on how to turn Dollar Tree picture frames into faux stained glass! This is a great project that kids and adults will both love. Printable templates below:
What you will need:
- Picture Frame- I used two different sizes from Dollar Tree.
- Permanent marker
- Rubbing alcohol
- Simple Traceable pattern: Can be any pattern printed or hand drawn. Here are the ones I used:
- Printable: Butterfly Template
- Printable: Cross Template
- Another great resource is from Delphi Stained glass
- Clear school glue
- Craft paint (I used glass paint but you can use any water based paint you have! Even food coloring can work.)
- An old flat brush
- Regular white glue
- Tin foil
Steps:
- Clean off glass with rubbing alcohol to make sure glue and marker will stick.
- Put your pattern inside the frame. Taping it in place so it doesn’t move around can be helpful.
- Use permanent marker to trace your pattern onto the FRONT of the glass (the side facing out of the frame).
- Take pattern out of the frame and remove glass
- Turn glass around so that the BACK side of the glass is facing up. The lines you traced should be on the side facing down.
- Take a small amount of clear school glue and mix a drop (very small) of water based paint (or food coloring) into the glue.
- Take your old flat brush and brush on a thin layer of the glue/paint mixture onto the glass where you want your pattern to be colored. You should be painting it on to the opposite side that your pattern is traced on.
- Continue to fill in your pattern until all the color is where you want it to be.
- Let glue/paint dry
- Flip glass around so that the lines of your pattern are facing UP.
- Decide which method you want to use for your lines. 1. Permanent marker or 2. Glue
- The quickest method is to take your permanent marker and just retrace your lines to make them thicker and clean it up. *tip you can use a cotton swab with rubbing alcohol to erase lines or “oops” as needed”
- The glue method is taking some white school glue (I would use a bottle only half full) and mixing black acrylic paint into the bottle.
- Then take the bottle and carefully squeeze out the glue along your lines. This needs to dry over night but will turn into a thinker raised pattern…some people have used puffy paint if they want the lines to really stick out!
- Once the lines are dry put the glass back into the frame with the lines facing out.
- As a final step I took some crinkled tin foil and covered the back of the frame to give the final effect of stained glass. I suggest watching the video to the end to see how cool this really looks because it changes the entire look!