Living with Art – Painting on Glass

If you have been following along, you know that I have been teaching some kid classes this summer where we are painting on different surfaces and using different mediums.   (find out more here).  The first week we created an art journal with watercolors that they will be able to work on all summer.  (find out more here).

This week we are working on glass.  I had them create a lantern out of a wide mouth quart canning jar (I bought mine at Michaels).  I gave them a piece of blank paper that was 5″ x 10″ which they could draw a design on .  The paper would fit nicely in the center of the jar and then they would be able to use it as a guide to paint their design, if desired.  Of course all of my kids went for winging it.

We used DecoArt Gloss Enamels for painting our designs.  We followed the guidelines on the paint bottle and wiped our glass with denatured alcohol to remove any oils or finger prints.

Once the lanterns were done we then made a handle out of two pieces of wire.  To make the handle follow these instructions:

• Cut two pieces of wire about 8” longer than distance around rim.  Place wire at right angle to each other with one piece on outside.
• With 4” of wire extended beyond inside wire, wrap outside wire twice around inside wire on both sides.
• Place inside wire under rim of jar, and pull tight.  Twist to secure.
• If desired, place beads or bells on end of wires.  Fold all wires over with needle nose pliers.  Wrap wire around paint brush handle to curl.

Here is Daniel making his handle:

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These are my older kids finished projects:

These are the projects from my younger class:

And here is a little video of my happy lantern makers:

You could either use a small battery operated candle in the lantern or a votive candle.  If you are using a candle place sand in the bottom of the jar before adding the candle to prevent the jar breaking when the candle burns down.

I hope you will try this fun project.  Since you might not be as confident as my young artists, I will be providing a lantern pattern for you in a future post.

Happy  Creating,

Jane