State Bird Window Clings Using Gallery Glass (American Goldfinch and Northern Mockingbird)

After making diamond art ornaments featuring two of the state birds, I thought it would be fun to use a different medium to make another pair of state birds. These window clings of the American goldfinch and Northern mockingbird are made from Gallery Glass. They're currently on the window in my craft room - that's our neighbor's tree you're seeing through my window. Aren't they cute? Affiliate links below. 

Gallery Glass - Bird Window Clings

Materials: 

• Gallery Glass leading - black 
• Gallery Glass paint - yellow, white, black, orange
• Gallery Glass workmat
• Gallery Glass toolkit (I didn't know it existed until I wrote this post, so I used a skewer)

Steps: 

Draw a simple bird shape onto a piece of scratch paper, then position it under the workmat. Use the black leading to outline the shape. Let the leading dry completely (overnight is best). 

Use the paint to flood each section, much like you would when decorating a cookie with royal icing. I used a skewer to create a variegated color in both tails and the mockingbird's wing, but it dried a solid color so don't bother with that. 

Let the paint dry completely, again overnight. When it is dry, carefully peel the birds off of the workmat. Now you have a window cling that that will stay on the window until you peel it off. 

Here's a closer look at each bird. The mockingbird is the state bird of Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas. 

The goldfinch is the state bird of Iowa, New Jersey, and Washington. 

It would be easy to adapt this project to make literally any bird. Give it a try!

Gallery Glass Removable Drink Identifiers

When we host a party with disposable cups, I put a Sharpie by the cups for everyone to write their names on their cups. When we host a party with wine glasses, we use wine charms (affiliate link here and throughout the post). But when we host a party with stemless, non-disposable glasses, we just hope that no one mixes up their glasses. Until recently! Now I have a sure-fire way for guests to identify their glasses. 

Remember the Gallery Glass sun catchers I made? When guests come to your house, just ask them to peel their favorite sun catcher off the window and stick it to their glass! Brilliant! (If I do say so myself.)

You can also make removable bands to go around the glasses. It's just a matter of putting dots of Gallery Glass Window Color onto Stencil Blanks, letting it dry, then peeling it up and wrapping it around a glass. 

I had a lot of fun experimenting with using different tool with Gallery Glass Window Color. Can you guess what common household item I used to make these?

 If you said a plastic fork, you're right! Just put random globs of Gallery Glass Window Color onto the Stencil Blanks....

... then drag a fork through it until you're happy with the pattern. Let it dry, peel it up, then wrap it around the glass!

In case you were worried, Gallery Glass is non-toxic. So while I wouldn't recommend eating it, there is no danger to decorating the outside of a glass with it. 

So what else can you do with Gallery Glass? You can cut dried pieces with scissors, dies, or punches to get fun shapes! Just spread some on the stencil blank, let is dry, peel it up, and cut. I used Fiskars Squeeze Punches for the stars and hearts below. 

You might be concerned that these might be difficult to remove from the glass. That worried me at first. I tried leaving them on for three days, near a sunny window, and the Gallery Glass peeled right off. I haven't had any trouble removing it from my windows either. It's a really neat product.

The possibilities are endless! Imagine a Halloween party where you and the kids make tons of bats, ghosts, pumpkins, black cats, and whatever else to decorate the windows. As guests come, they peel off their favorite and attach it to their glass. When they're done with the glass for the evening, peel off the shape and stick it back on the window. Fun stuff, Gallery Glass!

Gallery Glass: Unicorn Sun Catcher

Check out my unicorn sun catcher! 

The Plaid Ambassadors each received the Gallery Glass Sun Catcher Kit (affiliate link here and throughout the post) to play with. I'd never tried Gallery Glass before. The verdict? Super fun!

To make your own sun catcher, you need Simulated Liquid Leading, Gallery Glass Window Color, and Stencil Blanks. It also helps to have the design you want drawn out. The Sun Catcher Kit comes with a large idea book so I used that, but you can use coloring pages or draw your own designs instead. 

Place a stencil blank over your design. Trace the lines with Simulated Liquid Leading. There is a learning curve to this. At least, there was for me. You can see my first attempt here. Obviously, I wasn't keeping the pressure steady, nor letting gravity work for me.  

I did some more practicing before moving on to the pineapple, my fifth shape and the first that turned out well. The key was to think of the leading like frosting a cookie. Pipe with even pressure, holding the tip just above the surface, and let the leading fall gently into place. 

I drew a few more shapes, including the unicorn at the top of the post. In all, I made a dozen window catchers and there's hardly a dent in my 8 oz. bottle. 

Let the leading dry for at least 8 hours. I left mine overnight. Then fill in the spaces with the Window Color. It is much more fluid than the leading, but not enough to self-level. You want to fill in all the spaces so that they're almost overflowing. It looks like I filled in the pineapple completely...

... but once it dried, it's obvious that I didn't quite fill it all in.

Anyway, fill in all the spaces as full as you can get them. If any bubbles show up, poke them with a pin or a toothpick. Let the Window Color dry for at least 8 hours. 

When it is dry, gently peel the design off of the Stencil Blank. Then attach it to a window. You can remove it and reposition it as often as you want. 

Oh, the possibilities! I'm imagining all sorts of holiday and seasonal window catchers decorating the windows at Casa deRosier. Any suggestions for other things you'd like me to make with Gallery Glass? Better yet, try it yourself!