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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

How to...Do Glass-on-Glass Mosaic in One Day

 


   Spring is here in sunny California and making a beautiful light-catching mosaic to hang in the window just seemed like the right thing to do! I have had several people ask me how to make glass-on-glass mosaic. It's pretty simple! The glue to use is Weldbond because it dries clear. Here is how I made what you see here!

You will need: (links lead you to a website where you can purchase one if you need to- just trying to make it easier for you!)
All Glass Picture Frame (preferably with a pre-drilled hole in the top)
Stained Glass
Weldbond Glue
Paper and pencil
Sharpie Ultra-fine-tip pen
Paper towels, Q-tips, tweezers
Glass scorer and Running Pliers
Glass wheeled nippers

Step 1: Choose a Picture Frame
Choose a picture frame! I found an all glass 5 x 7 frame with a hole already drilled in the top. AND it was only $1 at our local Dollar Tree Store. Try to find a frame that does not have any wood on it. Solid glass will capture more light. If you find an all glass frame but it does not have a hole drilled in it already, you can try to drill your own (check out this WikiHow) or you can try those stick-on (click to buy from Amazon) picture hanging hooks. Make sure you follow the weight suggestions.


 
Step 2: Concept
Now it's time to decide what you will mosaic! I would suggest drawing out on a piece of paper what you want to mosaic. You can make your sketch very precise and then tape it underneath the glass so you can follow the lines when you are placing your stained glass. Think "color-by-number". OR you can just come up with a general concept and then go from there. That is what I did. I decided I wanted to do a flower-type, and, as you can see, this was just a general idea and I took it from there. Here is my lovely sketch:
 I would say, in general, a no-fail design for a light-catching mosaic would be something that has to do with light and nature (like the sun, or trees, or flowers....). 
 
Step 3: Lay out your pieces
Then I got my bucket of stained-glass scraps (see photo below) and just began putting a puzzle together with the pieces. I did need to chip and score here or there to make things fit into place. TIP: Use a fine-tip Sharpie pen to draw on your stained glass where you want to cut, then cut or chip along your line. The Sharpie will rub right off with a damp paper towel or Q-tip. If you didn't sketch out precisely what colors go where, I do recommend laying out all the pieces first before gluing any down. The reason for this is so you can make changes in regards to color. Because this is a light-catcher, color is a big deal. If you notice in the photo of my completed project, I was careful to balance the dark blues with the lighter blues.
[By the way, you can maybe get free stained glass scraps by contacting a local stained glass artist and seeing if they will give you their scraps. Try contacting your local art center for names of local stained glass artists. That's how I got mine!]
 
Don't bump your piece!
 
 
Step 4: Glue
Once all your pieces are laid out, then begin to glue each one down one at a time. Tweezers can help to pry or pick up your pieces. Paint or dab on some Weldbond glue (click the link to see where you can buy some). You can spread the glue evenly and thinly (not so thin that you can see through the glass still) or you can just dab some on. Press the piece firmly back into place. Some glue may squish out on the sides. If so much glue squishes out that the glue-squish is as high as the top of the stained glass, then you should remove the piece, wipe some glue off and then put it back (I said "squish" 3 times- well make that 4).
 
Step 5: Let it Dry
Weldbond glue takes anywhere from 24 hours to over a week to completely dry with glass-on-glass. But you can hang your piece up after 24 hours. The stained glass pieces will not slide down after that length of time. To hang it, you can either screw in a hook screw up on the inside top of your window- into that wall part. Then use fishing line and loop it through the hole and then tie it and hang it on the hook. Or, you can use those sticky hangers and stick it directly on your window, although you will be able to see them through your stained glass a little- unless you can find clear ones! However you choose to display your mosaic light-catcher, be sure to put it in a sunny spot!