It started with finding an unopened box of glass tumblers, and some glass paints that I hadn't paid attention to for a long time ! It was the perfect trigger to create candle stands for diwali.
Here is a quick step by step guide to create one of your own.
What you need
Glass tumbler
Glass paints (preferably solvent based)
Round tip, soft bristles thin brush (I used a 000 size)
Black outliner (or black acrylic paints)
3D gold outliner
Rag cloth
Water
and.. PATIENCE :)
Step 1
Clean the glass tumbler with water and dry it. Make sure there is no dust.
Step 2
Using a black outliner tube (use it like a mehndi cone) or black acrylic paint and brush, draw up a design on the glass. (free form random patterns can be more interesting that trying to draw up something very meaningful :) ) Just make sure the design accommodates small areas where you can fill up different colors of paint.
Also plan to leave some areas without paint - this will help the light come out brighter and even make interesting patterns when your candle is lit
(you can also use a pointed tip whiteboard marker to draw up the design on the glass, and then use the 3D outliner to draw on top of the marker outlines)
Step 3
Let the outline dry up completely. Scrape out blotches, or thick lines.
Step 4
Start filling in colors. What worked for me was to put my fist into the glass to hold it while I fill colors.
This is also the step that requires most patience. for the reasons below
The surface of the glass is curved - so the already watery paint tends to run. So you need to hold the glass in the same position until the paint dries up (at least half dried so it doesn't run)
(Having said that, I also found that not worrying too much about colours mixing up at the borders helps - that itself creates new patterns and interesting color combinations)
Continue to fill up with the color of your choice. (I usually would like to limit my palette to upto 5 colors)
Glass colors come in bottles from which you can squeeze paint and fill it. It can be quite tiring and can hurt your hands a bit - especially if you want to get this done at one shot. Instead you can try painting in the colors using a brush. It poses the same 'runny' paint problem, but at least your hands don't hurt so much !
Bubbles can also end up frustrating you ! Try and remove as many bubbles as you can ! (this is where solvent based colors can help)
As mentioned earlier, plan to leave some areas without paint - this will help the light come out brighter and even make interesting patterns when your candle is lit
Step 5
Let the paints dry up.
Step 6
Use a 3D gold outliner to make some decorative designs on top of the paints. Use the gold to a minimum - so that it doesn't take away the colors.
Leave the gold outliner to dry. Now your candle stand is ready !
You can try the same with glass bottles. You can use LED serial lights to insert into the bottle and light it up !
Happy lighting !
Here is a quick step by step guide to create one of your own.
What you needGlass tumbler
Glass paints (preferably solvent based)
Round tip, soft bristles thin brush (I used a 000 size)
Black outliner (or black acrylic paints)
3D gold outliner
Rag cloth
Water
and.. PATIENCE :)
Step 1
Clean the glass tumbler with water and dry it. Make sure there is no dust.
Step 2
Also plan to leave some areas without paint - this will help the light come out brighter and even make interesting patterns when your candle is lit
(you can also use a pointed tip whiteboard marker to draw up the design on the glass, and then use the 3D outliner to draw on top of the marker outlines)
Step 3
Let the outline dry up completely. Scrape out blotches, or thick lines.
Step 4
Start filling in colors. What worked for me was to put my fist into the glass to hold it while I fill colors.
This is also the step that requires most patience. for the reasons below
The surface of the glass is curved - so the already watery paint tends to run. So you need to hold the glass in the same position until the paint dries up (at least half dried so it doesn't run)
(Having said that, I also found that not worrying too much about colours mixing up at the borders helps - that itself creates new patterns and interesting color combinations)
Continue to fill up with the color of your choice. (I usually would like to limit my palette to upto 5 colors)
Glass colors come in bottles from which you can squeeze paint and fill it. It can be quite tiring and can hurt your hands a bit - especially if you want to get this done at one shot. Instead you can try painting in the colors using a brush. It poses the same 'runny' paint problem, but at least your hands don't hurt so much !
Bubbles can also end up frustrating you ! Try and remove as many bubbles as you can ! (this is where solvent based colors can help)
As mentioned earlier, plan to leave some areas without paint - this will help the light come out brighter and even make interesting patterns when your candle is lit
Step 5
Let the paints dry up.
Step 6
Use a 3D gold outliner to make some decorative designs on top of the paints. Use the gold to a minimum - so that it doesn't take away the colors.
Leave the gold outliner to dry. Now your candle stand is ready !
You can try the same with glass bottles. You can use LED serial lights to insert into the bottle and light it up !
Happy lighting !
