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Handmade Christmas Crafts and Windows
Handmade Christmas with Peelable Glass Paint
Christmas is a magical time of year and the perfect occasion  to get creative with decorating and crafting. Thorndown Peelable Glass Paints are a great way to decorate Advent and Christmas windows and can make endless craft items for decor and gifts.
The Christmas Stencil Craft Pack makes it even easier with 6 festive stencils and 4 x 40ml pots of Peelable Glass Paint in Christmas colours. Follow this link for more information on the Christmas Craft Pack and simple festive projects, or explore ideas for Christmas Windows in our Projects area.
There are also some great ideas for making Christmas Baubles on the Workshops page. A glass painting workshop saw a group of people create a range of decorative designs for glass baubles that looked fantastic. The designs can be easily copied and used to create your own baubles, either on glass or the cheaper plastic baubles that are available.
Painting a Christmas Window with the Christmas Stencil Craft Pack
A quick and easy way to transform your home, office, or shop for Christmas is to use this stencil pack. You don’t need to be a skilled artist and anyone can have a go.
This kitchen window was a joy to create! Firstly I used a small radiator roller with a foam sleeve and some Swan White Peelable Glass Paint to roller on a snow drift at the bottom of the window panes. Leaving that to dry I moved on to the night sky using the star stencils to create a starry night for the angels to descend from.
As the star stencils are quite small it can be easier to use a sponge. I like to use an old washing up sponge. The cheaper thinner ones are perfect and once they’re no longer any good for washing-up I cut them to size, usually into quarters. For stencilling you only need a tiny amount of paint otherwise you’ll get drips, splodges and paint bleed under the stencils. Pour a small amount of paint onto a tray or use an old plastic fruit tray, dab the sponge in lightly and remove any excess by scraping off on the edge of the tray so the paint goes back to be used later.
Fix the stencil in place with masking tape or a glue mounting spray, dab the painty sponge onto the stencil then remove the stencil while the paint is still wet. Leave the stencil to dry or wipe off any wet paint with a cloth or kitchen towel, then use again in the next place. While I had yellow (Griffin Gold) on the sponge I also added the three angels using the same angel stencil. We use a durable 190gsm acetate material to make our stencils so they can be used again and again.
I painted on the Santa and the Christmas trees using the art brush provided in the stencil craft pack, popping out of the snow drift on the bottom of the windows. For the snowmen and snowflakes I used an old sponge and sponged Swan White Peelable Glass Paint on using the stencils.
The snowflakes are small and intricate so can take some practice to get them right. Best tip is just to use a tiny amount of paint so it almost looks like you’re not using any. If you do make any splats and splodges then don’t worry too much as snowflakes aren’t perfect and art doesn’t have to be either!
On the windowsill are a collection of decorative items I painted up using old glass jam jars and bottles. The window didn’t take long to create and looked fabulous day and night.
Festive Lights
A friend of ours makes the most delicious naturally flavoured spirits (Espensen Spirit) that come in these beautiful bottles. For Christmas, I reused them along with some other old drinks bottles to make decorative festive lights for the home, friends and family.
On some I used the snowflake and Christmas tree stencils to create the main decoration then added spots of Swan White paint to complete the design. Bottle top light strands illuminate the inside and create the prettiest of festive lights for a table centre, windowsill or any corner that needs brightening up.
HANDMADE CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS
Buy wooden Christmas decorations from a craft shop or online and paint them with Thorndown Wood Paint to create your own bespoke decorations. If you want to hang them outside then paint on 2 coats or a top coat of UV Clear for full exterior protection.
FOREVER ADVENT CALENDAR
This Advent Calendar was created by painting Peelable Glass Paint on plastic fillable baubles. Numbers were painted on one side and the other was decorated before filling with chocolate, stringing together and hanging them in the window. Not only will you be able to use this advent calendar year after year, but as the paint is peelable, you can peel off the decoration and paint on a different design every year if you like.
Handmade Decorative Christmas Items
Tea light jam jars are really simple and easy to create, making great decorative items or gifts.
On these old glass jars I used a variety of techniques. The snowflake stencil works particularly well looking very decorative with a flame flickering inside. I used a small art brush to paint Swan White Peelable Glass Paint on, using the stencil as a guide. Use the thin point of the brush with a small amount of paint, then paint inside the stencil using it as a guide or template to get the shape. Using this technique pretty much eliminates paint bleed as you’re not working on and over the stencil.
Painting on dots and spots can add extra decorative detail to the snowflake design, or can be used on its own for a simple, fun design. Dip the point of an art brush into the paint then just dot it onto the glass, moving your brush around the object until you’re happy. Use as many colours as you like or stick to the one colour that suits your theme. On one jar I sponged Griffin Gold onto the bottom border before applying Swan White spots.
The holly sprig was painted on by hand with Goblin Green and dots of Dragon Red for the berries. On two of the jars I painted on snowflakes by hand using a thin flat brush and painting on lines to create a snowflake. This simple and effective technique was created by a lady at the Glass Baubles Workshop.
A couple of pretty vases for festive floral displays were painted by hand using a really simple technique. Firstly I painted on the branches or sprigs with Goblin Green then dotted on petals with Swan White, and finally a centre dot of Griffin Gold. Instant and effective decoration with little skill or effort!
The photo jars were an idea borne out of desperation. After not being able to find photo frames to fit the latest round of school photos in limited shopping time, it was jokingly suggested that I put them in an old jar – so I did. Bottle top lights were fixed to the lid and I painted the top with Swan White Peelable Glass Paint to hide the light fitting. With their names and the year written on the back, personal gifts were made for the grandmas to treasure.
Festive Treats
Sweets and chocolates always go down very well at Christmas time and a great way of presenting and personalising them is to use old glass jars or plastic pots, painting them with Christmas themed designs. You can buy sweets and treats in bulk and split them to make gifts for friends and family.
Decorate the jar with stencils painted with Peelable Glass Paint to create unique and bespoke gifts for loved ones. Fill them with chocolates, toffees, jellies, sugared almonds, or whatever the favourite treat happens to be. Once the treats have gone they can pop a tea light inside and use it as a decoration instead.
CHRISTMAS DECOR
This beautiful lantern has been turned into a festive delight with the Christmas stencils, adorning the fireplace with a warming glow. Once Christmas is over you can peel off the paint and decorate it for another season.
Another lantern has been painted with Thorndown Peelable Glass Paint and stencils for a festive decoration that would be perfect as a table centre.
An old jar that was a bit bashed has been transformed into a festive scene with old polystyrene packaging being used as snow with a Christmas tree stencil and snow flake painted with Swan White Wood Paint hanging from the lid inside. Bottle lights have been put inside to illuminate the scene with a twinkle or two.
Painting windows with Christmas themed stencils or freehand designs add festive fun to a room and are quick and easy to do using small amounts of Peelable Glass Paint.
Christmas Table
Put all of your painted decorative items together and create a festive table fit for a Christmas celebration.
Christmas Stencil Craft Pack Videos – contents & painting
It’s easy to create endless gifts and decorations with Thorndown’s Peelable Glass Paint and a little paint goes a long way. With the Christmas Stencil Craft Packs crafting is even simpler and a great way to repurpose and reuse old items.
The whole box and contents have been designed to be as eco-friendly as possible with FSC cardboard, recyclable paper sleeve and guides, recyclable or reusable paint tins, a brush sourced from a British manufacturer and made with birch wood from sustainable forestry, durable stencil material that can be used again and again and recycled when their life has ended, corn starch compostable protective, packaging, and of course the Peelable Glass Paint that is made using a 100% recycled plastic resin.
Eco-crafting is now a thing – time to get crafty with Thorndown Paints!