"Stained Glass" Votive

Well, here's my first "official" craft. I did something similar to this for Halloween a couple years ago. I had the teens make pumpkins and ghosts. It was fairly successful. I think I even have my pumpkin around somewhere. That was also the first time I used Mod Podge. I can't believe it took me 23 years to discover the stuff and then another 2 before I started seeing it's true potential! I'm about to go on a Mod Podge frenzy, so I thought I'd start with a craft I was already familiar with. Here it is:

"Stained Glass" Votive

Materials

• Tissue paper (any color)
• Matte Mod Podge
• Paintbrush
• Glass container (you can use this method for vases, but for this specific project you want one that fits a small candle)
• Paper Punch (a smaller paper punch will take you longer to work with, but any size will work)
• Siccors (if you want to cut out your own shapes)
• Plain paper

Step 1 - Cut out shapes

Now, there's a trick to this part. There are a number of websites that have tutorials for this craft but they must assume you already know how to use a paper punch with tissue paper. I was not one of those people! I kept getting the tissue paper stuck, or it would only cut half of the shape. It was a disaster - I'll admit was a bit of grumbling and swearing. Here's the trick. Take regular paper (I just used printer paper) and place it on top of two pieces of tissue paper (or one piece folded over). The regular paper will give the punch something to grab onto and two pieces of tissue paper makes the job go faster. Once I discovered that trick, I was ready for the next step in no time. If you don't make enough, you can always make more as you go.

Step 2 - Get out the Mod Podge

Now the fun really begins! Pull out the paint brush and Mod Podge. Some people say to water down the Mod Podge a bit, but others just use it right out of the jar. When I did the Halloween project I didn't water it down; this time I gave it a try. I'm not sure if I noticed a difference.

Mod Podge can be messy so I suggest working on a special craft sheet or just a large piece of paper. Other than a few drops of Mod Podge on that extra piece of paper, this was a very mess-free craft. I put my hand inside, held it upside down and used the paint brush to pick up the pieces of tissue paper. Occasionally you may need to use your hands to readjust a piece of tissue paper, but for the most part my hands stayed clean. Also, be very gentle with the tissue paper. Don't do fast brush strokes and don't push too hard. If you just take your time, you shouldn't have too many problems.

Make sure to coat each piece in Mod Podge. Even if it mostly stuck because there was already some Mod Podge on the glass, you still want a layer on everything. Leave space or overlap the shapes. You can even put a solid layer of one color and then layer the punched shapes on top. For this votive I only used one layer of Mod Podge. If you wanted to get fancy, you could do a second layer with glitter Mod Podge (buy theirs or just add glitter to stuff you already have). 

As you can see in the background, I'm a messy crafter...

Step 3 - Enjoy!

Use a votive or even one of those nifty flameless candles. Wrap it up and give it as a gift or keep it for yourself. These steps will work for pretty much any Mod Podge and glass project. For the Halloween ones we used leftover streamers. If you were making a vase or centerpiece you could add a ribbon or glue on some extras. Go crazy! It's seriously easy. I did this whole project in less than 2 hours (I only know that because it was while the 2 year old was taking her nap). That was also with a pretty small paper punch and a larger glass. If you plan on doing this project with kids, I suggest cutting out the shapes before hand to cut down on the time. Unless of course that's something they really enjoy.