Pinterest Craft Day 5

Staining Glass
Today four of us met to do another craft from our joint Pinterest board. This week we tried staining glass with alcohol inks, using several colors of unsweetened Kool-Aid packets:
lemonade (yellow: no)
lemon-lime (green: yes)
mixed berry (blue: yes)
berry blue (blue: yes)
grape (purple: no)
strawberry-kiwi (pink: no)
pink lemonade (pink: no)
cherry (red-pink: no)
black cherry (red: yes)

The yes and no indications were the colors that worked well and not so well for us. For example, yellow came out looking clear. 

We mixed a few of our colors with a dribble of hot water in baby food jars, stirring to dissolve completely, before we added a few tablespoons of rubbing alcohol.

We tried painting, dabbing, spraying, and pouring on various surfaces: glass vases and jars, flat glass raided from old picture frames, watercolor paper, and fabric.

 When it seemed to take too long to dry, we tried mixing other Kool-Aid packets with only alcohol. But then we seemed to get granules that made streaks, so we decided it really needed to be dissolved with a tad bit of water after all. 

  Our faves from all the processes we tried? Painting with a brush on the outside of glass. It made a smoother color, it was easy to apply, and it dried faster than the other methods. Sometimes we applied two colors, one right on top of another, and that came out well too. Greens and blues are the prettiest; we made many shades of aquas and teals; so beautiful!

 Beautiful blues and greens grouped on a tray sparkle in the late afternoon sun.

Edited to note: 48 hours later the alcohol ink was still sticky. The color started to separate and run on the glass; we voted it a failed project. Ultimately, we simply washed it all off and returned to clear glass. But they sure look pretty for the camera!