Elegant Nest: Reverse Paint on Glass Tutorial…

Earlier this week I shared the window sign I painted for a client…

For this sign I used a Reverse Paint on Glass Technique.

Today I want to walk you through a step by step tutorial that will give you some helpful tips on how to try this method yourself. Once you find your piece of glass - window frame, picture frame, etc. – clean it well with a glass cleaner on both sides. Let it dry completely.

Collect your supplies…

I used a DecoColor paint pen and Plaid brand craft paint in black. A couple of fine tip paint brushes, some low adhesive tape and a ruler (not shown)

Find an image you want to use. I designed the above image myself. I found the font online and then hand drew the detail for the corners and center. I had to cut and paste the lettering together to get the proper spacing. Then taped all the papers together.

Very Important…now you have to reverse your image!

I was able to do this by using the Paintbrush Accessory on my computer. If you do not have the same type of accessory on your computer, you can print it out normal and trace the image with a sharpie so that you are able to see it from the back side of the paper.

Tape the image to the front of your window…

Remember that you are painting on the backside of the glass pane. Here is what it looks like from the back…

Trace your letters and image onto the glass. Using a paint pen is an easy way to trace and make fine lines nice and straight. Once the image is traced, I go back with the fine tipped brushes to fill in the letters and images with the black craft paint.

Fill in with paint. It helps to remove the image from the glass and place on a solid surface so you can easily see where you need to fill in and paint…

The above image is after just one coat of black paint. I went over it several times to get solid coverage. Sometimes you may want a more distressed look and can leave it with one coat…it depends on your taste and the style of the design you are using.

I followed the same technique with the corner and center details (sorry I did not stop and take photos…I was on a roll)…

Since they are not letters, and do not have to be reversed, it was very easy. I just took my drawings and taped them to the front of the glass. Then traced and painted, just like with the lettering.

Here is a helpful hint…in order to assure that the corners and center scroll detail was all the same size, I used the same image for each spot. Simply tape image where you want it, trace it, then move the paper to the next location. Ta-da!