Artsy Monday - Painted Wine Glasses

This week I'll be showing you step by step how I made these adorable painted wine glasses for Valentine's Day.

Materials:

Wine Glasses (or any type of glass you want to paint)

Masking Tape/Painters tape

Enamel Paint (I used Folk Art Enamel Paints)

Paint Brushes

Computer paper

Heart Design or Heart Rubber Stamps

Ink (if using rubber stamps- can be any color)

Rubbing Alcohol or Vinegar

Basic Supplies

Folk Art Enamel Acrylic Paint

***When working with enamel paints it is very important that you clean your brushes and any spilled paint immediately. These paints dry to a hard finish and are very difficult to remove once they have cured***

The first step when painting glassware is to make sure you wash it well, dry it and then wipe the entire surface with either rubbing alcohol or vinegar. This removes dust and dirt and finally any oils that the glass may be holding onto from your fingers, etc. You want to make sure you have a squeaky clean surface for your paint to adhere to.

Next step is to decide on a design. I knew I wanted a striped stem and then a few hearts on the globe of the glass.

When painting the globe of the glass you want to be sure to keep the top 1 to 1 1/2 inches unpainted. This is a safety precaution. While the paints are non-toxic it is always better to leave the area that will come in contact with your mouth unpainted - just saying!

Once you decide on a design make templates of the images you will be painting on the globe and attach on the inside of the globe with a small piece of masking tape. Move them around until you like the composition and then tape them firmly in place. Again, be sure to leave unpainted space around the rim of the glass. I use 1" masking tape around the rim so that I can see the safe, paintable area.

Using the template as a guide paint the images on the globe of the glass. Let dry. In my area this does not take long. As you can see in the picture, enamel paint tends to be a bit thicker than standard acrylic paint. To help lesson the appearance of brush lines you should use multiple light coats, or if you want added texture in your design use more paint per coat. I like the texture of the enamel paint and used a thicker coat of paint on the hearts and a thinner coat on the stripes.

Paint the stem. I chose to paint the entire stem white and then add pink stripes once it was dry. If you want your stripes to have straight edges you can use painters tape on them. Be sure the stem is completely dry before taping or you could peel the paint right off the glass. Let your stripes dry before removing tape. As you can see in the final picture I did not want my stripes straight, I am not a straight line kind of girl so I just played with the stripes.

Once you have completed your design let it dry for at least an hour before baking. You will need to bake the glasses to cure the paint unless you have 3 weeks to spare. According to the Plaid website you can let the paint cure for 21 days and it is good to go. I am not that patient so I cure my glasses by baking them according to the manufacturer’s directions.

For the Folk Art Enamel paints, place your glasses in a cold oven and then set it to 350 degrees for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes turn the oven off and let the glasses cool completely before moving them. Any drastic change in temperature could cause your glasses to crack so leave them be! I like to bake mine in the evening after dinner so they can sit in the oven overnight and cool.

Remove cooled glasses from oven and let cure for an additional 72 hours. Enjoy!

Here is a glass that I painted this past summer. It has been washed in the dishwasher at least once a week since July and it is still beautiful!

Here is a margarita glass I made for my best friend. It has also been through the dishwasher on multiple occasions!

You can find many different styles of glasses at your local thrift store. I’ve gotten entire sets of wine and margarita glasses at my thrift store and several times they were still in the boxed set of 4!! These make fantastic gifts, are fairly easy to do and can be personalized for any occasion or individual.

Have a great week!