Looking for a great gift idea for Valentine’s Day — or for your mother or bridesmaids — that won’t break the bank? Or even better — won’t cost much of anything at all? Look no further than your stemware cupboard and your box of paints and crafts.
Painting your own wine or martini glasses is a great way to add pizzazz to boring old drink glasses and makes a beautiful and thoughtful handmade gift. All you need are a few materials and a few hours!
Don’t think you have to be an artist to create beautiful stemware, either. If you’re looking to recreate more elaborate pieces of art, download free printable stencils that you can use to sketch out gorgeous paintings. You can also follow the easy, step-by-step instructions below to create one of a kind abstract and modern glasses that are sure to impress your friends or your sweetheart.
DIY painted wine glasses
What you’ll need:
- Glass stemware (can be wine, martini or champagne glasses)
- Set of brightly colored glass enamel paint
- Set of different-size brushes (from angled tips to larger rounds for different effects)
- Surface conditioner (like this)
- Newspaper
- Stencils (optional)
Get started
Make sure your glasses are washed and completely dry before beginning. Liberally cover the outside of the glass with the surface conditioner. This is a specially formulated bonding agent that helps the enamel paint adhere to the surface. Let dry completely — do not rinse or wipe off. Stir your paints with a brush to ensure the colors are mixed, then you can start painting!
Multicolored dotted glass
Festive stripes
This pattern works best on martini glasses because of the angling of the base, but you can try it on any type of stemware. To begin, use the small angled brush and paint a stripe, beginning at the bottom of the base, and move towards the rim. Repeat with your colors of choice and let dry before adding embellishment. Once stripes have dried, add dots, swirls or your embellishment of choice!
Word & name lettering
Begin by writing out the names or words you’d like on the glass in dark ink on a piece of paper, in the font or handwriting you want. Tape the piece of paper inside the base of the glass so that you can trace the word or name onto the outside of the glass. Using the smallest round brush, carefully trace the letters. Once dried, remove the paper and embellish the glass with dots, swirls or hearts.
Adding embellishment with glue
To add glitter or rhinestone embellishments to enamel paint, you’ll need to first bake the paint onto the glass. Place the glass in a cool oven then heat at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes. Let glass cool completely. Add clear glue to the places you want to add glitter or rhinestones. Immediately after applying glue, sprinkle with glitter of choice or pattern with rhinestones. Let dry overnight.
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