Glue Suncatcher

I love experimenting with glue I think it's not only great or sticking things together but also to create new things out of nothing. You can make pretty much what you want with it. I had wanted to make a peace sign for a longtime in order to decorate my windows but I didn't want to use resin or something similar as everybody else does. I thought I might try to do it with glue and then use other materials to painted and to put the final touches. Hope you like the result!

My first idea was to make an Om symbol, but it turned out to be a little bit complicated because it required making three separate pieces. So I decided to make a peace symbol. But you can make whatever you want (of course).

If you like this project, please vote for it in the Glue Contest!

MATERIALS:

- A piece of plastic

- Cord (or anything similar)

- Glue (I used universal glue)

- Acrylic paint

- Alcohol

- Water

- Parchment paper (you can print the symbol instead of copying it on paper)

- Some tape

TOOLS:

- Scissors

- Pencil (If you decide to copy it by hand)

- Brushes

- An eye dropper

- Scissors

- Cutters

First, you need to decide which symbol you want to make. Draw one yourself or look for a cool one on the internet. Then print it or copy it. If you want to copy it, you can place a piece of parchment paper on your computer screen and trace the symbol carefully.

Once the symbol is ready place it under a plastic sheet. Unite both sheets with a piece of tape so they don't move. Then, take the glue and trace the figure on the plastic sheet. I suggest starting by the inner side and then the rest.

Now take the cord and place it on the glued part. Do this piece by piece. Do not glue the whole symbol at once! You will make a mess!

On these pictures you can see the process. I made two symbols. For the first one I started doing the outer part and then the inner side. It worked well but I had to be careful not to remove glue from the outer part when I glued the inner pieces.

Here are some pictures of the second method. From the inner to outer part of the symbol. I think this works better and it's easier.

Time to paint. Here is where I let my imagination flow. I wanted a transparent but purple-ish symbol. I got my inspiration from watching a suncatcher... I thought about making something that would let the light pass through. But I also wanted to achieve a psychedelic effect.

So this is what I used:

- Watered acrylic paint

- Alcohol

- Acrylic paint mixed with alcohol

I then laid all these materials mixed togethe ron a white glue surface (I will explain this later).

... Now start mixing the colors with water.

I made some tests before painting the symbol. I realized that watered paint on a plastic would spread everywhere without control. What could I do to prevent it? I thought about using a sticky transparent layer. White glue fitted this role nicely.

So take some white glue and fill the symbol. Use a brush to spread it evenly.

I used two techniques. Here's the first one:

With an eye dropper, take some watered paint and drop some random driblets. Repeat this process using all the colors you want to add.

Then, take the alcohol and spread some drops all along the symbol to create a psychedelic effect. I realized that acrylic paint doesn't react with alcohol but if you use watered paint it does.

Let your creativity soar and add all the drops of paint or alcohol you want until you achieve the desired result.

Here's the second method:

This time, I mixed the watery paint with alcohol and I dropped the mix directly on the glue. I think the result is cooler than with the other method. To do that, take some alcohol with the eyedropper and then take some paint. Spread random drops until you get a result you like.

Don't mix acrylic paint with alcohol because the paint will become kind of pasty and it won't work.

To sum up, you can use two methods:

- First, drop some watery paint on the glue and then add some alcohol drops. The result is more homogenous.

- Or take some alcohol and some watery paint with the eye dropper and drop the mixture on the glue. The result has a more interesting texture.

Once you finish the painting, let the symbol dry until the white glue disappears. This will take some time. You will have to be patient. Once the symbol is dry, you will get something similar as what you see on the pictures.

You may notice thatthe paint has reacted differently on the two symbols. As I said earlier, when dropping first the paint and then the alcohol, the result is more homogenous. But if you take watery paint and mix it with alcohol the result is more "interesting" and has more texture.

Cut the inner plastic (use a cutter). Do so with the symbol upside down, it's easier.

To cut the plastic around the symbol you can simply use a pair of scissors.

And here you have a cool, transparent symbol to decorate whatever you want (your windows, your car, your computer...).

If the sun shines from the back of the symbol it will look darker, but the texture is cool (as you can see on the pictures).

If light comes from the front, the colors will be more visible. The result is is up to you :p

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If you like this project, please vote for it on the Glue Contest!

Thanks! :)