Sadly, Thanksgiving is over. On the bright side, that means it’s time to start planning for Christmas! Out come the fresh pine trees, Christmas lights, and of course, decorations for the tree! If you’re looking for a new way to decorate, these easy stained glass ornaments are the perfect touch. And what’s even more amazing is that you only really need two ingredients: glue and food coloring!

Ingredients:

-Elmer’s glue

-Gel food coloring

-Masking tape (optional)

-Paintbrush

We loved the stained glass so much that we made all kinds of glass decor: ornaments, wine glasses and candle votives. For all of the items we stained, we followed the same basic steps. Mix a small amount of glue with a few drops of gel food coloring. Add coloring frugally at first, and remember a little bit goes a long way. Swirl, and then you’re ready to get started!

We started off making solid color ornaments. To do this, swirl the food coloring (2 drops) and the glue, then add a few drops of water to thin out the coloring. This way, each layer will be even when you’re painting the ornament. Put one to two thin layers on and let dry. Don’t worry if you think the coat looks too thin. When it dries, it takes on a whole new look.

Dried! If you feel like yours isn’t bold enough, add another thin coat. After painting the solid ornament, we started to get a little more creative with our painting.

To take your stained glass to the next level, try using painters tape to create patterns on the ornament. This way, you can create ombre and gradient stained glass! Just paint within the lines.

For these rainbow colored ornaments, there’s no need to dilute the glue mixture. You can do stripes, strips or swirls — whatever your heart desires.To get a more dramatic layered look, put on more coats of the non-diluted stain.

To make sure the ornaments dry without smudging, hang them on string tied between two weighted bottles.

We also made some solid colored votive holders following the same technique above. You can see that only a thin layer resulted in a beautiful, bold shade of yellow.

Last, but not least, we can’t forget the wine glasses! Gotta make sure we ring in the holidays with style. Simply follow the directions for the solid ornaments, and suddenly those IKEA wineglasses will look like they came from West Elm! No one will ever know.

Try making a colorful collection of these for your holiday parties this year. They also work great as gifts.

What other glass items would you like to stain? Let us know in the comments below, or send us some pictures via Facebook or Twitter.

Misty Spinney
Misty Spinney is a hair stylist, makeup artist, and fashion stylist with a strong background in design and deep passion for creativity.