How to Paint a Window to Look Like Stained Glass – DIY Tips

An artistic mind always looks about to create art and beauty. That must be your tendency as well! Well, you shouldn’t necessarily always be good at drawing and painting to frame art. Beauty can come off from anything simple – be it even a painted window.

Stained glass windows allow the light to come in different colors. It brings a touch of class and elegance to your room. But, buying a stained-glass window is expensive. Why don’t you make a stained window right at home?

Don’t know how to paint a window? No worries, read along this guide to know about the easy ways you can do it.

Method 1: Detach Your Glass from Window and Paint on It

If the window you are willing to apply your paint on is detachable along with the frame, then detach the whole window. If only the glass is detachable, then it’s not necessary to detach the whole window.

Take the glass off from the frame, and you can paint on it. Now follow these steps to apply your paint –

Step 1: Clean your glass very well. You can use any kind of glass cleaner. Use a razor blade to unstick any marks or debris.

Step 2:Take a big art paper of your window’s size and draw your design on it. You can either make simple rectangular boxes and round lines as design or do intricate paintings. If you paint something complex, keep spaces between the lines so that you have space to fill color.

Step 3: Now, tape the art paper to your window, make sure it is placed perfectly as you want your window to be designed.

Step 4: You can choose to go with two options now. You can either take some adhesive lead strippers and lay it over the glass according to the design below.

Or,you can use black hot glue to draw lines over the design. These kinds of glue will stick to the glass strongly.

Step 5: Now, fill in the design with different colors as you wish. Take glass painter colors and color your glass with a brush or just pour the color in by squeezing on the tube. Let the color dry for a day or so. Use cotton buds or blades to remove out the air bubbles or displaced color.

Step 6: Your paint is now ready. Place your window back at its place and look at how amazing a job you’ve done!

Method 2: Paint Right on Your Vertical Window

Well, your window glass may not be detachable from its place. Does that stop you from painting it? Not at all! You can still make a stained-glass painting on your window while it’s still at its place.

However, in this case, you cannot paint small and intricate designs. Because painting little designs would be hectic, and one color may flow down and mix up with another.

Let’s know how to carry out the process –

Step 1: Clean your glass with a glass cleaner, rub off all the marks, and wash it all. Let the glass dry for a while.

Step 2: Take a ruler and a marker. Draw big rectangles, squares, and circles with the marker. Remember not to make the design complex and leave sufficient space within the boxes and circles. Your design doesn’t need to be so perfect, don’t worry. Keep drawing; if anything goes odd, you can just rub the marker off and re-draw.

Step 3: Now, you can use fabric puffy paint or black glue to draw over the marked design. Use cotton buds to rub off when the lines don’t go as intended and re-do them. Let the lines dry for a few hours.

Step 4: Now, take a foam brush and dip it into your color. Fill in all the designs with different colors using the brush. Paint all over the empty space and re-paint where you think the color isn’t smeared enough.

Step 5: Let the color dry off for around 10-12 hours, and you are finished!

Method 3: Paint on a Plastic Sheet and Stick It to Your Window

Exactly! If you don’t want to paint directly on your window, that’s alright. There is still a way. You can buy a clean piece of a plastic transparent blank sheet and paint on it, then attach the sheet over your window, so it looks as if it is painted on the window.

The advantage of doing this is that you can remove the painting anytime you want. You may get bored with the painting after a few months. And then, without any hassle, you can just remove the sheet and attach a fresh one! So, let’s see how you can do it on a plastic blank –

Step 1: First, take the measurement of your whole window and draw a border on a piece of art paper with exactly the size of your window. You will make your design within this border.

Step 2: Now, draw the design you want to have on the paper. Make sure the design touches the edges of your border. It is better to have simple designs rather than intricate ones. Keep space within the drawings so that it can fill color well.

Step 3: Place the plastic blank sheet over the design and tape the art paper to it so that it doesn’t move when you copy the design. Mark the border on the sheet, as well.

Step 4: Now, trace all the lines of your design over the sheet again with liquid leading. But before that, you should practice drawing with the liquid a bit by making lines and small circles.

Doing so will get you accustomed to the liquid flow, and you will be able to implement it on the design perfectly. After copying the whole design, let it dry off for 2-3 hours.

Step 5: Now is the time to apply color. Firstly, put color around the outline and then fill it all inside. Use blades, tiny sticks, or cotton buds to remove air bubbles. After finishing, allow the color to dry off for at least 8-10 hours.

Step 6: Now,you can get the art paper off. Take the plastic sheet and tightly attach it to the window. Make sure to attach it to the inside of the window, not the exterior side, so it won’t be affected by the weather. And you’re all done!

Conclusion

You can follow any of these methods to give an artistic vibe to your window that look like stained glass. I can guarantee that your guests will be impressed when they visit your room.

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