Glass Paint Galore

This past weekend, I had a bit of a crash course in glass paint.

I have been seeing some amazing glass projects over Pinterest and wanted to try some projects of my own. Not really sure of what product would be best, I ended up trying almost all of the brands offered at Michaels (thank goodness for the sale this weekend!) & this is what I discovered while using the different products:

Pebeo Porcelaine 150: Glass Paint Marker

These guys come in a wide array of colours (the sister brand, Vitrea, takes the cake for types of finishes in their markers), but the great thing about the Porcelaine line is that they are opaque (which is what I wanted).

They can be either Bullet tipped (a little thick. Similar to a regular sharpie marker), or Fine tipped (the thinnest it comes in- Great for smaller glass projects & detail work). I got one of each so I could test out the thickness. And not to mention, these little bad guys can be used on so many surfaces (basically everything including the kitchen sink!)

For my first project, I used both the bullet (in Anthracite black) & fine-tipped markers (in Peacock blue, pictured below) & tried them on these little tea bag dishes from the thrift store for 50% off ($1.50 for both).

I carefully drew my design (first on paper), then decided on the one I would use. I knew I wanted it to have a picture of a tea bag, so I made sure I had options :)

When drawing my design, I tried the bullet tip on a regular sheet of paper to test the flow of the ink. It went on smoothly and didn't run. The fine tip was very fine, and I needed to go over my lines several times to get the thickness I wanted.

With this marker (and any Pebeo brand), you have to wait for 24 hours before baking it in the oven. The waiting part was hard. It was like watching paint dry ;)

When about to bake, it is recommended to put the glass into a cold oven, then put it to 300 degrees Fahrenheit (or 150 degrees Celsius) for 35 minutes. When time is up, turn the stove off and leave the glass inside until the oven is cool again. Yes, more waiting (but the paint will be dishwasher safe, so it's worth it!) 

After it's baked, the paint still looks exactly the same colour and it has the same lustre. There you have it, a customized, whimsical set of bag rests (great for a gift! I'm already thinking of my tea-sipping friends) :)

...or a neat mug for the coffee-drinking man in your life (in my case, my husband's choice of poison would be a dangerous, adult-portion of hot chocolate) ;)

Next product:
(warning: before you go any further, you might experience symptoms of sickness when seeing the colour gold. I just happen to be loving gold lately & I think I went overboard... thought I might warn you).

Vitrea 160: Paint in a tube

The Vitrea line comes in markers, tubes and little tubs, and come in various finishes such as brilliant (gloss), shimmer or frosted (great for a stained glass effect if you want your design to be transparent with a wow effect!). Like it's Porcelain counterpart, these colour can also be mixed together and be customized. 

 Depending on where you cut the tip, you can allow it to be fine-tipped or have more paint come out at once. I wanted to ensure the entire plate would not end up gold, so I cut it really close to the top.

I started drawing a very random design... the paint came out smoothly as well, but you have to be careful not to squeeze too much at once, as it does glob at times (especially if your hand spasms from having to be steady for so long!)

and so the random design just grew...

and took on a life of its own. I guess it's a flower? Hypnotic brussels sprout? no one knows.

After 24 hours and baking it, I ended up with a funky urban outfitters-ish dish (that my husband believes does not match anything in our home and therefore must be let go of... sigh, he is the Simon Cowell of design, friends). ;)
The texture you see when it is wet, is the same texture after it's baked, so take that into consideration when deciding your medium.

Next up,

Porcelain 150: Paint in a tub

I used another 50 cent plate from the thrift store, a sponge tip brush, some pretty letter stickers from Michaels & a margarine lid (below).

I eyed the middle and traced around the lid 

then I began carefully placing my stickers down (the only letter stickers I had on hand were my pretty glitter ones. It hurt my heart to do what I did to them...)

with one of my mantras (one that hasn't helped my New year's goals at all...)

gah! blurry...

Then I carefully painted over the letters with the paint (sniff). 

Using the foam brush, it was pretty streaky, but apparently using a foam brush makes it less streaky than a regular paint brush).

After the glowing gold orb was in place, I erased the line... Aaaaand let it rest for 24 hours.

After being baked, I thought the oven would have smoothed out some of the chunkier areas, but it didn't. Next time I probably wouldn't use glitter letters, as it does leave quite a thick line of paint on the edges. Live n' learned! :)
Nonetheless, I had me a cheeky dessert plate. Perfect for anyone looking for an excuse to ruin their resolutions... only 20-something days after making them.

Last in line:
sick of gold yet? :)

Plaid's FolkArt: Metallic Acrylic Paint
(not exclusively used for glass, but can be used for it)

When I researched on FolkArt's website, they said it could be used for glass (but without the baking). The impatient side of me did get excited, but that being said, it isn't as durable as the paint that needs baking. This product can only be cleaned by soap and water (by this point, I was not complaining!)

Using a foam brush, I squeezed some paint into the middle of my bowl (thrift store find for 60 cents), and mixed it around. For a more even finish, the foam brush is recommended. To get the texture and look of  brush strokes, use a paint brush.

I put three coats on for a darker more even finish. After it dried, I had a glamourous jewelry dish for my vanity (this product was inspired by a pretty bowl I pinned on my diy board).

Well, there you have it! A whole array of paint brands and an eyeful of gold!
I hope this inspires you to try something new and interesting with glass paint (long gone are the days when I hear those words and just think church windows) :)

Happy painting!