Faux Stained Glass

I’ve been intrigued by stained glass forever. I haven’t made the leap into working with it, mostly because of the tools and expense involved. That and the fact that I don’t trust myself to not injure myself in the process. Anyway… since it’s probably as close to the real thing as I’m going to get, any time I see ideas for faux stained glass, I get really excited.

I first came across the idea for this project years ago, and I couldn’t believe it when I saw what it was made out of. This is a very kid-friendly project, and we have some on our walls that may be my favorite artwork. It looks like it’s glowing! I liked it so much that I made some myself, and the kids have made some as gifts. My daughter was kind enough to make another one for me for purposes of this post. 

Most if not all of the supplies for this one are things you probably have on hand already. I love these kinds of projects!

aluminum foil

cardboard (part of a cereal box or similar would be perfect)

a pen/pencil

hot glue gun and glue sticks

permanent markers—black plus any other colors

a frame (optional)

That’s it!! 

To start, cut your cardboard down to size. It can be any size you want. If you plan to frame it, it’s probably a good idea to do this based on the frame you’re using. I didn’t do this the first time, and though it worked out fine, I could have ended up with three beautiful but hard to frame pieces of art.

Draw (or have your kids draw) your design on the cardboard. It’ll be easier later on if the design doesn’t have a bunch of tiny elements to it. Smaller, more intricate designs are going to be harder to trace with the glue gun. As you can see from my examples, we have a wide range of designs. When I first had my kids do this, my youngest was a toddler, so I’m not really sure what he was drawing—but we rolled with it! 

Once you’re happy with the design, carefully trace it with the glue gun. This is a good step for an adult or a responsible older child! My teenager still prefers for me to do this. Make sure to pull off the glue strings as you go, or else they might accidentally end up part of your final design. 

Once the glue has hardened, carefully lay a sheet of foil over it (shiny side up). The foil needs to be big enough to wrap around the back, but I wouldn’t wrap it just yet. As you can see, the foil we used for this design is a little wrinkled, and that’s okay. You could even crumple up the whole piece of foil and then flatten it out again. It’ll look pretty no matter what.

Gently trace the glue lines with your finger so that you can see the raised design under the foil—but try not to tear the foil.

At this point you can wrap the foil around the cardboard and tape it on the back.

This is the fun part. Take a black permanent marker and trace the glue lines. Then color in the design however you like! Put the finished piece in the frame if you want to, and you will have beautiful artwork that will look especially stunning when the light hits it.