Faux Stained Glass Window

I love stained glass but have never learned how to do the real thing. So I faux it! I have used a product called "Gallery Glass" since it came out in the 80's! There are various brands of paint glass, as well as a number of recipes to make the glass paint, but I find this technique to be the most realistic. I did this window using Gallery Glass paint, leading strips and glass bevels.

I used the following tools/supplies for this project:

• Gallery Glass Window Paint
• Assortment of Glass Bevels
• Tools for making texture in the glass paint (toothpicks, stencil brush, paper clip, stipple brush, assorted paint brushes, anything else you can think of to drag in the paint)
• Tools to cut glass bevels if needed (2 pliers, cutting plyer, glass cutting tool)
• Gallery Glass Leading Strips
• Gallery Glass Liquid Leading
• Loctite Adhesive to glue the bevels to the window
• Printer for design printout
• My finger (use this tool most of all :-)

I was asked to stain glass an oval shaped window, so I needed something that would complement the shape. I found this design online and I wanted to emulate it. I saved the image to my computer then went to ‘BlockPosters.com’. Here you can upload and image and it will enlarge it and create a poster sized image that you can print on your computer with 8.5 x 11 sheets. You then tape the sheets together to create your poster. You can also do this using Adobe Acrobat if you have it, just choose ‘poster’ when you go to print. I used both apps for this project.

Next you will need the paint and leading strips. I have used Gallery Glass for years, so I have quite a supply of colors and leading strips. You can still buy this product on line, at factorydirectcraft.com. I have tried a few different ways to create the faux window paint, but I find Gallery Glass to be the most translucent. I made a sampler of all my paint so I have an idea of how it will look when dry. It can be tricky to paint on a vertical surface too, so you have to use a paint that has thickness to it so it doesn’t run. Gallery Glass has body to it, and it starts setting up quickly so you can work with it as it starts to dry. The leading lines are also from Gallery Glass - very easy to work with!

I also love the look of beveled glass so I purchased some beveled glass pieces from Etsy in rectangular shapes. I used a glass cutter to trim some of the bevels to fit my design. This can be a little tricky, but if you have patience it works pretty well! I also assembled all the tools needed to do the job.

Next, I played with the colors. I tested colors on a clear glass casserole pan, some glass plates to see how they dried and tested mixing colors for a realistic effect. 

• Try a blob of paint and drop a few dots of white on top. Then swirl around the white with a toothpick.
• Do the same using a shimmer/metallic paint and that looks cool when dry!
• Adding a few drops of darker paint to the lighter shade of the same color gives a little dimension to the color
• Combine white to any color and mix good to create a lighter color.
• Apply a dark color and add white to one end then 'pull' the color up through the darker color with a toothpick to give it a shaded effect.

After deciding on colors, I tested making textures to see what I wanted to use on my design. Play with samples of paint on clear glass to create textures.

• Dabbing a stencil brush creates a texture similar to frosted glass
• Wiggling a flat brush in the paint makes a cool pattern
• Dragging a paper clip or toothpick in straight horizontal or vertical lines give yet another dimension
• Smudging the paint around with your finger in any direction
• After a color dries, add horizontal rows of clear to the top to give it a raised texture.
• Take a small artist brush and do 'swirls' all over the painted area.

... the ideas are endless. Have fun with this! I also find that some of the paint is more opaque, but I wanted to be sure I was using all translucent colors. Applying to clear glass lets you see the transparency of the color. Make sure to take notes on your ‘recipe’ because trust me… you will forget what you used for your samples!!

I decided on my colors and textures, had my design, had my paint - now I was ready…

I adjusted my pattern in photoshop, removing the colors to just show just the outline of the design, since I wanted to add my own colors. The outline also helps to lay the lead lines. And very important - I sized this image in photoshop to be the exact size of the window I was creating the design for. 

I took my final outline to Adobe Acrobat and printed it as a poster. This printed out 6 pages that were then taping together to create the full size design. I laid the poster down and decided where to put my beveled pieces. I shaded in those areas.

If I needed to trim a bevel to fit a shape I cut the glass with a glass cutting tool:

• Wear Glasses!
• I marked the bevel with a sharpie
• Basically you firmly drag the glass cutter across the sharpie line
• Grab the glass on both sides of the line with pliers and gently apply pressure until the glass breaks. Don't force it.
• If its stubborn, gently tap the underside of the glass with your cutter tool and then try the pliers again. Eventually it works!
• If I needed a bit more taken off, I nibbled at the edge with my cutter tool.
• Then I took emery paper and lightly sanded the edge so it wasn't sharp.

I also printed out my full design, to fit on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of the entire design, and marked it with the colors I wanted to use in the different areas – this was my cheat sheet!

Now I was REALLY ready… it’s a process!

The first photo shows the beautiful window before I 'stained' it. After cleaning the window REALLY WELL, I trimmed my design and taped it to the outside of the window (Pic 2). This way I could follow the outline to lay my leading. The leading strips (Pic 3) are really easy to work with, they are flexible and stick to the window well. I started laying the leading lines directly on the window, following my 'template'. My printed design didn’t quite fit to the edges so I extended the leading all the way to the window edges (Pic 4 & 5). The leading lines are easy to trim with an exacto knife or razor, when placing them.

When all lines were in place, I used the orange areas I marked on my template to see where I wanted to place the bevels. I glued my glass bevels in place using one tiny drop of Loctite glue on each end of the bevel. I butted them right up against the leading lines, pressed and held in place for about a minute. They held well!. 

As a finishing touch, I went over my design and put a dot of Liquid Leading (also from Gallery Glass) at the intersections of my leading lines. This closed any gaps and gave it a realistic touch, just like actual stained glass!

When all bevels and leading where in place, I removed the template from the outside of the window (Pics 6 & 7). Beautiful!!

Now I started applying the paint from the top to the bottom, filling in the areas with color. I couldn't get a good pic of my applying the paint, but you just snip the tip off of the plastic Gallery Glass container, and simply squeeze out the paint onto the window. I sort of ‘scribbled’ in the color within the areas, keeping most of the color at the top of the section, since gravity will pull the paint down. I did not fill in the area solidly with color as a lot of techniques show – its really not necessary and in my opinion, its WAY more paint than is necessary. 

TIP: If you have old Gallery Glass that is a bit dried out, thick and gloopy in the bottle, I found adding a bit of Rubbing Alchol to the paint and mixing well thinned it out to be just like new!

I took a little stipple brush and/or my finger to fill in the section fully. Make sure you get the paint all the way up to the leading lines. If the paint started to drag down too much, I kept brushing it back up as it dried so it didn't 'pool' at the bottom. The paint starts drying fairly quick, so it worked with me. 

After it started to thicken, within just a few minutes, I started to add texture to the section. I made texture using my brushes, paperclip, toothpicks, my finger and any other little ‘tool’ I had, to make vertical, horizontal and/or diagonal lines in the paint as it dried. For the circles, I used one of my test paint patterns and colored it in with Amber and swirled in Cocoa Brown to give it dimension. In other areas, I swirled in different colors to give them more interest. Most areas I kept clear, just using different textures. 

When it was dry, I decided to add another layer of blue to the center section as I was too light. That is what is great about Gallery Glass, you can simply apply more when its dry. Also, if you find you don’t like a section after it dries, the cool thing about Gallery Glass is you can score that section with a razor blade, peel it off and redo it! I love this stuff!

I takes about 2 days to completely dry, depending on how thick the paint was laid on. Once its dry, it can be cleaned with Windex and paper towels, using a light hand. I used color for this window, but I also have done windows using just 'clear' and a lot of different textures (Pic 3). Overall, I think they both turned out to be really close to the real thing!   

Thanks for checking out the project and if you decide to try it, have fun!!