Maria Kirillova Designs: Tutorial for a Glass Painted Suncatcher

Hi everyone!

I have this tutorial listed on Etsy but since nobody buys it, I've decided to disclose it so that you could try making this wonderful suncatcher :) Apart from recommendations for making a suncathcer, the tutorial also includes some glass painting tips that you can use making some other objects.

Please, feel free to use it and share with others. I hope you'll show me your results in glass painting :)

Here is the list of materials you'll need for this suncatcher.

1. Round glass of 20 cm (8 inches) in diameter with 1 or 2 holes

2. Glass outliner

3. Glass paints

4. Satin ribbon

5. Sucker cup (for a soap dish, for example)

6. Awl

7. Adhesive tape

8. Alcohol, nail polish remover or anything else for de-greasing

9. Latex (medical) gloves

10. A picture with good outline. You can draw it yourself or print any existing picture in the necessary diameter.

11. And a good mood! Prepare to have fun and enjoy the result! ;-)

So, let's start.

1. For this suncatcher we need a round glass blank with 1 or 2 holes (for a ribbon). I order such blanks in a glass cutting shop. For a suncatcher I usually use a blank of 20 cm (8 inches) in diameter. Then take any picture and print it in the dimensions that correspond to the blank size or draw a picture in this size, i.e. 20 cm (8 inches).

2. Stick the picture to the glass with an adhesive tape and wipe the glass with alcohol to clean off the grease (nail polish remover will also do). You’d better use gloves not to grease the glass surface again with your fingers. De-greasing will ensure better adhesion of glass paints to glass.

3. Then we take an acrylic glass outliner and start contouring the picture. This way we create borders inside of which we’ll put glass paints later. The most important point here is not to make any breaks between sections of the outliner since glass paints are very liquid and spread along the surface quickly; by using the outliner we create cells to be filled in with a certain colour of glass paint. If there is a gap in the outliner, two colours of paint can mix up.

4. Hold the outliner approximately 5 mm above the glass and move it outwards to the right (for right-handed people) as if laying it on the contour of the picture.

5. Done! We’ve created cells in which we’ll put glass paints. Let the outline dry for 30-40 minutes and then we are ready to paint.

6. Painting. At this stage you can use your fantasy and choose any colours you like. There are plenty of glass paint manufactures. I use Italian glass paints Idea Vetro.

7. The paints are very saturated and need diluting. For this purpose there is a medium. By diluting a paint in the medium you can get different tints of the same colour. As a rule, you don’t need a lot of paint, so, it lasts long. However, the medium is fast to finish.

8. So, let’s start filling our cells with paint. From time to time we have to raise the glass to make sure that there are no blanks in the paint. Especially, such gaps appear in the corners or near the outliner. The suncatcher hangs on the window and lets the light through, so, such gaps will be very noticeable. Ensure that the paint fully covers the cell without any gaps.

9. When painting the cells start from the very corners at the top and move along the outliner down, then go to the centre of the cell. Use more paint in the corner and then stretch it towards the centre. This allows to avoid gaps in the places where they tend to appear.

10. Painting is finished! Let it dry for several hours or for a night.

11. Now we’ll make a suspension for the suncatcher. We need an awl, a sucker cup and a ribbon of suitable colour. I buy sucker cups for a soap dish. They are strong enough to hold the weight of 20 cm glass (3 mm thick).

12. Using the awl we make a through hole for a ribbon in the sucker base.

13. Then helping yourself with the awl push the ribbon through the hole.

14. Put the ribbon ends through two holes in the glass. Stick the suncatcher to a flat surface in order to level the length of the ribbon. Then tie the ribbon around the sucker base and cut off the ends.

15. Glue the ends to the ribbon. Let it dry.

16. That’s all! Our suncatcher is finished!

IMPORTANT NOTICE: degrease the surface of the window and the inner side of the sucker cup (with alcohol, nail polish remover etc.) for a better adhesion and safe fixation.