20+ Easy Glass Painting Ideas: Your Next Creative Project

Table of Contents

• Nature-Inspired Glass Paintings
• Practical Household Glass Paintings
• Faux Stained Glass Paintings
• 3D Glass Paintings

Glass painting is an easy way to make a beautiful decoration or gift for someone. You can use it on windows, furniture, mirrors, and more! In this blog post, you will learn new ideas for glass painting with supplies you already have in your shop and find tips that will help you make your pieces look professional.

Nature-Inspired Glass Paintings

Like a butterfly fluttering over a flower or a sunset landscape, nature is one of the most common subjects most beginner artists love to try. Painting on glass is no different, and we hope you'll get inspired by these glass painting ideas we're about to share with you.

1. Painting Flowers on Recycled Glass

Painting glowers on recycled glass - Image by Pamela Gropp 

Who doesn't love a flower? How about a bunch of flowers on your cookie jars? The artist used delphiniums for this nature-inspired glass painting, a lovely flower to grace your garden in the summer but can remain dormant for months in well-drained soil. 

The gorgeous blue color is the perfect design for people who love blue since we don't have that many blue flowers in nature.

2. Night Sky Painting on a Frosted Bottle

Night sky painting on a frosted glass - Image by Creativilla 

Painting on glass doesn't have to involve a paintbrush; this one involves a regular synthetic sponge. However, the artist applied frosted glass paint to the bottle for an opaque effect before painting it over with a romantic night sky painting.

3. Flower Glass Painting

Flower glass painting - Image by Creative Art 

This flower glass painting mimics the stained glass effect. You can use Perspex acrylic or OHP sheets if you don't want to deal with glass. First, trace the outline using the paint outliners. You can use gold, black, or silver. Then fill the inner parts with glass paint.

4. Peacock Feather Glass Painting

Peacock feather painting - Image by Swapna Nomboodiri 

Like making the flower glass painting above, start with outlining the peacock feather with an outliner, then add the details with glass paint and more outliners to make it more realistic. 

The trick to this glass painting is to use glitter paper behind the glass painting before framing it. The glitter paper will highlight the glass painting without adding more color to the image itself.

6. Tanjore-Style Glass Painting

Tanjore style painting of a woman sitting on a lotus - Image by Creative Cat 

Tanjore style painting uses subjects from nature that have religious significance. What distinguishes Tanjore painting from other painting techniques is the use of metallic outliner paints and gold leaf. To apply the metallic gold leaf, use gilding glue.

Identify the areas you want to add the gold leaf, apply gilding glue using either a brush or a needle-tip glue applicator, let it dry for 15 minutes until it looks transparent. 

Apply the gold leaf with a pair of tweezers, then press it down, then wait to dry. Use a craft knife to remove the excess gold leaf, then finish cleaning with a paintbrush. Continue filling up the other parts with glass paint, then let dry before framing it.

Practical Household Glass Painting Projects

7. Easy DIY Glass Paint Lamp

Painted glass lamps - Image by Cris Crafts 

You can turn a standard glass lamp into a nicely adorned decor using glass clings and paint. Assemble to the glass base the clamps and then add to the lamp base. 

It's an effortless job that will not take much time to complete. You can do a couple of these lamps in one afternoon and use a beautiful set of lights in the bedroom by evening.

8. Painting on a Light Bulb

Glass painting on a light bulb - Image by Priti's Creativity 

Add a light bulb to your painting projects and add a new vibe to your party with this colorful bulb. Everyone will be delighted with this beautiful hand-painted yet functional decoration.

9. DIY Confetti Glass

DIY Confetti Glass - Image by HGTV Handmade 

If you want to get into the groove for your parties, why not customize your glasses? For this project, you need stemless wine glasses, glass paint, and a dotting stylus. 

Use the size of the stylus you want on your confetti design, then dip the stylus to the paint and apply it to the glass one color at a time. Best of all, after a short stint in the oven, you'll get a dishwasher-safe glass you can use over and over for your parties.

10. Painting on Glassware

Painting on drinking glasses - Image by Creative Art 

Turn your boring drinking glasses with works of art using glass paint and paint outliners. To do this DIY project, start by cleaning your glasses with a glass cleaner and a lint-free rag.

Once clean, use the glass liner to create the outline of your glass painting, then fill it with solvent-based glass colors to make it dishwasher-safe. However, if you're going to use it for decors only, you can also use the water-based glass colors.

We recommend leaving enough space from the glasses' lip for drinking, even if your paint says that it's food-safe. Since you're dealing with dimensional glass, wait for it to dry before painting on the other sides.

11. Glass Vase from Old Bottles

Glass vase from old bottles - Image by DayDreamer Merin 

To make customized bottle art using glass paints, clean your glass bottle from grime and dust. You can make a design on paper, then start tracing it using white carbon paper. Outline it using the glass outliner, then fill them in later with the glass colors.

12. DIY Decorative Jars

Decorative jars - Image by Jenna Handcrafts 

You can create any design you want with jars. Choose a color, pick an image and paint out the jar. You can use these jars as DIY organizing tools to keep everything neat and organized correctly in the house. How would you love to fill that yellow glass with honey?

13. Pansies on a Jar

Pansies on a jar - Image by Pamela Groppe 

We've done delphiniums, so how about another blue flower for this jar? Smooth jars make a perfect alternative canvas for glass painters.

14. Painted Glass Using Leaves

Painted glass using leaves for design - Image by Nidharshini 

You can use almost anything to add designs to your glass painting projects. The artist in this example used fresh leaves to add patterns to her painted jar, then added the paint using a foam dabber.

15. Dot Painting on Old Glass Bottles

Dot painting on old glass bottle - Image by Lydia May 

Here's another dot painting project, but the artist used Q-tips instead of a dotting stylus this time. Bake it for a short while, fill the bottle with fairy lights and hang it wherever you want.

16. Painting Clear CDs

Painting clear CDs - Image by SoJo 

CDs are now a thing of the past with so many other formats to store your music and videos. However, if you have a stack of these you no longer use or are too damaged to use, turn it into some beautiful artwork.

Start by removing the colored part of the CD (you can also skip that if the design you want to use will cover the whole CD.

17. Milk Bottle Glass Painting

Painted milk bottle - Image by Mystique Art 

Turn your glass milk bottle into a beautiful vase with acrylic paint, foam dabber, and paintbrush. You can also use glass paint if you want a transparent effect, but only if your bottle is clear. If it is printed, use acrylic paint to cover those. This design is so easy that even beginners can do it.

18. Funny Upcycled Glasses

Funny upcycled glasses - Image by Street Stories 

You don't have to take all your glass paintings seriously. Some of the most fun projects to use a fun theme like these glass projects. Use acrylic paint to create these beautiful glass crafts.

19. Tinted Mason Jars

Tinted mason jars - Image by HGTV Handmade 

For this particular project, you'll need some glue and food coloring and an oven to dry your tinted mason jars. The artist used different levels of food coloring to achieve the ombre effect on these mason jars.

After spreading the glue and food coloring inside the mason jar, tip it on a baking sheet and bake it for 15 minutes in an oven. Do not preheat. Just set it to 350oF and start counting. Let them sit inside the oven until it cools down.

20. Moroccan Glass Lamp

Moroccan glass lamp - Image by Creative Cat 

This glass lamp is a beautiful decoration for themed parties and holidays. You can use battery-operated fairy lights or flameless candles inside these jars. Hang them in the garden, on the wall, or indoors.

21. Black Painted Bottle

Black painted bottle - Image by Kashmira Art 

The artist used black acrylic paint, a metallic gold pen, and metallic wax for this project. This hand-painted bottle is also probably one of the easiest to do on this list. Just paint the bottle with black acrylic paint, let it dry, draw your patterns using the metallic gold pen, and finish it with metallic wax.

22. DecoArt Mirror Painting

DecoArt mirror glass painting - Image by Glass Painting 

Turn your old bland mirror into a DecoArt mirror with adhesive lead liner, glass paints, and creativity. Print out your design and layout it on your mirror using faint lines. Then add the lead liners before filling the spaces with glass paint.

To achieve the mottled paint effect, dot the darker paint all over the space. Add white color over the darker paint, then swirl it using a toothpick. Take careful note not to leave any blank spaces.

Faux Stained Glass Paintings

Faux stained glass is a lot easier to make than regular stained glass paintings. You can use adhesive lead liners for a more authentic look or go for paint outlines that most faux stained glass painters use.

22. Stained Glass Frame

Stained glass frame - Image by Ventuno Art 

A stained glass frame is an excellent way to display your small prized paintings or pictures. Instead of using a small or large frame with an overly large mat, why not try this DIY frame?

It gives more character to your paintings, knowing you're framing an image with another artwork! Keep the design color-coordinated and straightforward so that they won't clash with each other.

23. Shaped Suncatcher Glass Painting

Shaped suncatcher - Image by Glass Painting 

A suncatcher is simple, but its effect on the room is magical, especially if it catches the early morning or late afternoon sun. Create your DIY suncatcher from a piece of acrylic, not more than 2mm thick, so that you can cut it out quickly.

24. Easy Fake Stained Glass Painting

Easy fake stained glass painting - Image by Drunk Crafts with Paige 

Do you think you can make faux stained glass painting using glue? Yes, it's not a typo error. We mean glue: white glue and clear glue. Of course, you need acrylic paint to color your sealant, but the glue will be the leading player for this project.

Mix black paint to your white glue, then use it as the outliner for your stained glass painting. Remove bubbles by poking them with a toothpick. Then mix your clear glue with acrylic paint of choice and use it to fill in the spaces.

The glue makes the regular acrylic paint more transparent, so you can make a stained glass painting without buying expensive glass paints. The result is not as clean as when using glass paints, but it shows that you can use glue to paint glass.

25. Poor Man's Stained Glass

Poor man's stained glass - Image by New Yorkshire Workshop 

This project uses patterned glass, instant lead lines, a soldering gun, and soldering lead. The artisan then removed the flux residue with a white spirit and brass wire brush. 

The vitrail paint achieved the stained glass effect. Then the artisan finished with copper sulfate solution for the patina effect and stove polish to give it an antique finish.

26. Faux Stained Glass

Faux stained glass - Image by 2Sisters1Heart

Go for the easier stained glass effect with adhesive lead liners and DecoArt Paints on plexiglass. Compared to the poor man's stained glass on the previous DIY idea, this one is a lot easier, and you don't have to fear breakage or burning during the soldering process because plexiglass is also very forgiving.

When adding your design with the adhesive lead lines, minimize contact with the sticky part. However, you can still reposition it after laying it out. The 4-day repositioning window is very generous, as long as you have not soldered the ends together.

3D Glass Painting

Although other textured glass paintings are also called 3D paintings because of the added dimension of different materials, we like to distinguish layered glass paintings from genuine 3D glass paintings. 

Some elements of the whole painting, when looked at from different angles, may seem to move, thus the 3D feature. Here are some examples of 3D glass paintings you may try.

27. IronMan 3D Glass Painting

Image by Draw Ninja KC 

For this project, the artist used the reverse glass painting technique on two sheets of glass, painting the face on one glass sheet and the hand on the other. Check out our article on reverse glass painting to know more about it.

28. Impressionistic 3D Glass Painting

Image by Michael Frank Peterson 

Do you see the girl's emotion by simply looking at the painting? Painting this on the glass gave a new depth to her eyes and made the picture more expressive. Remember to experiment with colors! Experimenting is vital in this project, so don't be afraid to try it out!

How to Choose a Glass Object to Paint

• The main thing you should consider is the use. If you want to use it on your windows or door, you'll need a larger glass pane, preferably cut to size. You can also upcycle your old glass windows and use them as a canvas to make practical art.
• Next, think about saving glass jars for your craft projects. You can upcycle old vases, candle holders, cups, and wine bottles for your glass painting projects. These projects usually end up as decor or organizers in your kitchen or craft shop.
• If you're gearing to sell your painted glass products, such as wine glasses, though, try sourcing from the Dollar Store or a cheaper seller so you can make a good profit.

Conclusion

Whether you are a beginner or an expert, these easy ideas for glass painting will help your pieces look professional. We hope you got some inspiration to work on your next creative project.

You may also check out these passionate glass painting artists to learn what motivates them. Share with us your glass painting journey. We'd love to hear from you!