Make Homemade Window Art
Dress up your panes with these cool cling-ons!
Submitted by
Kayla Chong
Kayla Chong
The fridge as art gallery is so last year. Show the neighbors your budding artistes' oeuvre by turning your windows into their latest installation.
- Dimensional or "puffy" fabric paint:In a variety of colors. Look for the paints with "fine tip" applicators.
- Plastic page protectors:Like the ones you used for your high school reports.
- Pictures:Unless you or your kids are stellar artists, you'll probably want to trace your clings from pictures.
Have the kids scour the Web and their coloring books for pictures of what they want their clings to look like. The best pictures don't have a lot of detail, so it might be best to stay away from a cling of Zac Efron (or Vanessa Hudgens) and go for simpler designs.
Get them to print or tear their chosen pictures out and slip them into the page protectors.
Now, have the kids use the puffy paints to trace their pictures. They'll need to trace the outline first. Show them how to drag the bead of paint behind the bottle as they go, rather than "pushing it," to make a cleaner outline.
Let the outline dry for 4 or 5 hours. (Maybe now's a good time to bake a batch of cookies, do their homework and take a bath?)
Next they'll need to fill in their outlines with paint. Have them work from the inside out, so they don't smudge the design with their hand. The paint needs to be thick enough that there aren't unfilled spaces, but not too thick or it'll take ages to dry!
When the design is all filled in, let it dry completely—anywhere between 12 and 24 hours, depending on how thick the paint is. Brace yourself for the question, "Is it dry yet?"
When the design is completely dry, have your kid carefully peel it off the page protector.
Stick it on the window for a visual treat from both sides or put it on the mirror and let your kids admire their handiwork while they're admiring themselves!
- If the design tears when your kid takes it off the page protector, it was probably too thin. But all is not lost! You can carefully replace it, apply more paint in a thicker layer, let it dry and give it another try!
- Window clings make great holiday decorations! Make hearts, clovers, snowflakes, Easter eggs, flags…and change them up with the season.
- Get the older kids in on the action by having them make clings of their school mascots! Great for their rooms or on the windows of the bus to away games!
Submit!
