8th February 2025

Faux Stained Glass Window Project.

Faux Stained Glass Window Project.
Faux Stained Glass Window Project.

I know it’s a little strange for a glass painting site but this faux stained glass window project doesn’t actually use any glass paints. Instead the colour comes from the self adhesive window film and the outline (which is put on second) is created using the adhesive lead. The result is a lovely faux stained glass window which throws some lovely colour into a room.

Obviously we have chose a design we liked centered around the coloured film we had available. We also sized it to suit our window.  You of course may want to use your own design and you will certainly need to size it for your own window. You can however use the techniques used in this project to make any design you wish. If you would like to you our design as a base then you can download it HERE. (Both colour and black and white versions are available.

(Please note: the window we were working on already had a slight “frosted” look).

 



 

Materials used in the Faux Stained Glass Window Project.

  • Adhesive Lead, 4.5mm amd 9mm. Wee used a natural lead colour but other colours are available. The amount you need will depend on your design.
  • Coloured self adhesive window film.
  • Your design (Full Size)

Equipment etc Needed.

  • Craft Knife.
  • Scissors.
  • Boning Tool (piece of hard plastic to smooth the lead down with).
  • Smoothing tool for film. (Plastic card should work fine).
  • Spray bottle with slightly soapy water in.
Adhesive Film placed on the window.
Adhesive Film placed on the window. Ready for leading up.

Technique.

The technique is actually quite simple.

  • On the computer (or freehand if you prefer) make a full-sized design. Also make templates for each piece of film you need.  Sort theses onto A4 sheets per colour. (If your design isn’t symmetrical the you will need to “mirror” the film templates).
  • Stick the film templates to the back of the window film using PVA glue. You are actually sticking to the backing sheet so you won’t harm the film itself.
  • Cut out the film Shapes.
  • Make sure you window is clean and the bluetack the design to the back of the window.
  • Place the film on the window piece by piece. Each time spray the window with a light mist of soapy water. This will stop the film sticking firmly to the window and give you a chance to reposition it. One by one when a piece of film is in the correct place use your smoothing tool to squeeze the air and water out. This will adhere it to the window.
Faux Stained Glass Window Project.
Faux Stained Glass Window Project.

Leading Up.

  • Once all the film is on the window go over it with a cloth and ensure it is completely dry.
  • Now it’s time to start adding the lead but FIRST think very careful about what order you are going to add it in. You want to end up with as few loose ends as possible. In the example there are only five loose ends. One in each corner and one on the center oval. For the majority of the work we used the  4.5mm lead. To get it to bend “stick and turn”, “stick and turn”.
  • Place the pieces of lead one by one. Press each one down with the boning tool (or piece of hard plastic.  Where lead pieces cross each other press it down so you get a tight “bump”. This makes a feature of it an looks like it has been soldered.
  • In almost every case the outside frame will be the last pieces you add. We used the 9mm lead for this which ties up all the outside ends.
  • Once it has all been finished you can remove the design from the back of the glass.

You can use this technique on almost any window or door. It doesn’t suit very fine designs but you can always combine it with glass painting technique as we did in the previous window and door projects.

You can download our design HERE although you will obviously need to resize it to suit our needs.

Hope you enjoy it.

Happy Crafting.

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