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Create the Look of Stained Glass with Sharpie Markers and a Jar

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Today we’ll show you how easy it is to create the look of stained glass using Sharpie markers and a glass jar.

We’ve done a ton of Sharpie art projects here in my daycare over the years, and one of the things we love doing with them is creating the look of stained glass.  You can do this with Sharpies and tin foil or with Sharpies and photo paper, and today, we discovered, you can do it with Sharpies and a glass jar.

Recently I did a round up of over 50 baby food jar crafts, so I’ve had jars on my mind.

I really had no idea how this project turn out, but I wanted to experiment with the idea after seeing this faux stained glass luminary over at Crafts by Amanda.  Amanda used glass paints for her project, but I suspected we might be able to do something similar using our Sharpies.

Create the look of stained glass with Sharpie Markers and a Jar

I’m happy to say it worked!  And the results were stunning!

Yes, like any permanent marker, Sharpies will stain clothing, floors and furniture, so make sure your kids are dressed appropriately, and that you protect your work surface when you’re using them.

How to create the look of stained glass with Sharpie Markers and a jar:

sharpie markers and a jar

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You’ll need:

  • clean, dry glass jar
  • Sharpie Markers (we LOVE the 80’s GLAM line of Sharpies)

That’s it!

Before colouring your jar, wash it in hot soapy water and dry it thoroughly.  You want to remove any residue that could prevent the ink from adhering to the surface of the jar.

Colouring your jar:

Choose whatever pattern or design you want for your jar.  I decided to go with blocks of colour on my jar, and so did my little helper.

colouring a jar with sharpie markers

You could choose regular shapes or stripes or circles – whatever you like.

When you’re colouring, try to keep your ink to one layer.  What I mean is: don’t go back over the same area that you’ve already coloured because that second layer tends to lift off the first layer.

Also, when you’re switching colours, try not to overlap.  Not only will you lift the first colour, but if you go over top of blue with a yellow marker, you’re going to end up with blue ink on your yellow marker tip.

Other than keeping your colours separate, there isn’t much more too it.

sharpie markers and a coloured jar

The hooligans quickly discovered how slippery the glass surface was to colour on.  It’s true.  The marker slides around very easily on the glass.

The older hooligan and I were fine with that, but the 5 year old found it frustrating, and she traded her Sharpies in for paint.  I’ll share that craft another time.

stained glass jar coloured with Sharpies

When our stained glass jars were finished, we placed them on the window ledge in the sunshine.  I’m not quite sure what I’ll use mine for.  For now, I’m content just to look my at it.  The colours reflected on the white window sill are really gorgeous.

Stained Glass Jar coloured with Sharpie Markers

More Sharpie projects:

20+ Sharpie Art Projects for Kids

More Glass Jar Crafts:

50+ Creative Ways to Re-Use Baby Food Jars

If you’re looking for a more sophisticated way to decorate a glass jar, check out these doily and burlap luminaries by Crafts by Amanda.

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Comments

  4. marie

    Maybe you could tie these to a tree,they would look great with the sun streaming through them,also a candle holder,would look lovely on a table with a lit candle to show off the beautiful colour’s.x

    Reply

    • stacey g

      Ive been searching around for ideas and how tos for mason jars & bottles using stuff i already have. I must own 100 sharpies lol so I cant wait to go try it out! I also have a bunch of Gallery Glass paint Im going to attempt to paint on a jar. When im done ill post some pics. (Cant promise they will look as good as yours! Lol but going to give it my best! Thanku for all your info! ESPECIALLY pics. And videos are even better!

      Reply

  6. Jamie

    Was wondering how this might hold up outside to the elements. Has anyone tried? We are out at night in the yard and these would look great with our white Christmas lights on tree branches and tea lights inside them by our hammock/sitting/kids play area. Thanks for any response!

    Reply

      • Jackie Currie

        They spray will likely activate the ink and cause it to run. There’s really no need to spray it though. We’ve had our jars for years, and the ink hasn’t scratched or faded.

  8. Ruth Fisher

    Even with little ones no longer around, your site fascinates me…gets that creative thing going! Thanks, rjf

    Reply

  9. Heather M Walker

    As an experienced glass artist, I have a couple suggestions. The sharpies will eventually rub off. It is far better to use glass paints that are made for painting glass with. However, if you really want to use sharpies, i highly recommend curing, or baking the glass t 275 for about 30 minutes. Let them cool in the oven to room temp before you take them out as extreme temp. rapid changes may break the glass. Once it is cooled, paint the entire glass with a coat of acrylic varnish, and let it dry. Once dry, cure it again in the oven at 275 for another 30 minutes. This should weather proof your glass.

    Reply

    • happyhooligans

      Thanks for your tips, Heather. I’ve done quite a bit of glass painting over the years as well. I’ve always found that the varnish, if baked, goes rather yellow, so I prefer to varnish after baking, and leave it at that. What varnish have you used that doesn’t yellow when baking? I should add that I’ve had my pieces for years, and even without baking the varnish, I’ve never had chipping or peeling. I hand wash these items though – I don’t put them in the dishwasher.

      Reply

    • Fawn Stephens

      Heather, I plan on doing this on the bottom only of a wine glass. Will that be ok in the oven at this setting? Thanks

      Reply

      • happyhooligans

        I used to decorate wine glasses with acrylic paints, and yes, I would bake them in the oven to set the paint. Just put them into the COLD oven, and then turn on the heat, and let the oven completely cool before taking them out, so there’s no sudden change in temperature.

    • Christina

      This is great, thank you for sharing this! I was just thinking myself that the sharpie would probably rub off. I was thinking you would probably have to put some sort of coating on top, and I would’ve never thought that baking them would do the trick.

      Reply

    • happyhooligans

      I don’t recall baking these jars, Jil. Did you see that written somewhere in the post, and I’m just missing it? There are other projects that I’ve baked before, but I don’t think we baked these ones.

      Reply

  11. Dee

    Im thinking of buying a cheap clear glass vase at the dollar tree and doing this… what a beautiful vase it would be, or a clear votive holder…. u have my mind working on the possibilities…. i love this it’ really beautiful. thanks!

    Reply

  12. Emily

    Will it wash off if the glass gets wet? Also do you need to bakeit to set it? Ive seen where they bake coffee cups that have been sharpied on.

    Reply

    • happyhooligans

      You can bake it. I’ve baked glassware before to set acrylic paint. I don’t think the sharpies will wash off, but I’ve never tried. We just keep pens, pencils and markers in ours.

      Reply

  15. Brocho

    I love the idea. I did the same idea using the cheapest, darkest colored nail polish. My preschoolers were 3 years old and were intrigued with the little “paint brushes”. We made a “honey dish” to put on our (Jewish) New Years table. We used cheap glass dessert bowls from the $ store, or plastic disposable bowls, and painted the outside. We did it outside in case of spills and because of the strong smell that nail polish has. (Honey is used on the Jewish New Year to represent the sweetness of the New Year that we hope to have . (We talk about “dipping”, a concept that is used often enough. We dip our apples in honey [Jewish New Year symbol], we dip our paint brushes into paint, we dip our French fries into ketchup and so much more.)

    Reply

  18. Ellen

    This is such a fun idea! I tried it out and discovered a couple of things: I used the Sharpie Brush Tip markers and the color went on smoothly with hardly any streaks. I found that the color could rub off even after it dried, so I took some of my Diamond Glaze clear glue and painted that over the artwork and once dry, that did a great job of preserving the color. Next I plan to try some black dimensional paint to create a black line image on the glass (like fake lead in stained glass) and then color in all the sections. I plan to create a few jars with the black line patterns on them and once dry, I’ll let my niece and nephew color them in. Then I’ll glaze over them with the Diamond Glaze, and put a battery operated tea light candle inside so they can use the votive as a night light. Thanks for providing the idea about using the Sharpies! It’s much neater and more kid-friendly than drippy glass paint.

    Reply

  20. Lois

    Thank you for a great idea that doesn’t cost a fortune (if you already have a ton of Sharpies, like me!), have too many steps, and doesn’t take an enormous amount of time. I am homeschooling (distance learning) my granddaughter, so I’m always looking for a quick craft to lift her spirits after a long day “in school”. This will definitely work! Do you think it would help to use decoupage after it dries? Thank you, again!

    Reply

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