Stained glass wreath Christmas craft project.

Christmas Craft Project - Stained Glass Wreath

Size depends on the size of your window. The wreath measures 26" wide by 35" long. The materials and the pattern given below on the 2" grids is for the above dimensions. To make larger or smaller patterns, make the size of the grid squares larger or smaller, adjusting the construction paper size accordingly.

Materials: Two sheets of black construction paper— 30" x 40" for the wreath; one roll double-face transparent tape; X-acto knife No. 1 with extra blades; swivel knife; white or yellow carbon paper; heavy white tracing paper for the white portions of the wreath; one sheet each of colored cellophane as specified below (or gelatin sheets used by theaters to tint white spotlights, available at many photography shops); two black illustration boards. Wreath Cellophane Colors: Red, orange, yellow, turquoise, chartreuse and emerald green.

Directions:

1. Enlarge the pattern below onto brown paper the same size as the construction papers.

2. Cover one piece of construction paper with carbon paper and place pattern over it, edges flush; trace pattern. Remove carbon and pattern.

3. Cover work area with a thick layer of newspapers to protect it.

4. Place the blank construction sheet under the sheet with the tracing and pin all around edges. Place on newspaper.

5. Using X-acto knife and swivel knife, cut out all areas, including outer edges of wreath and ribbon, except the thick black outline shown in photo. Make sure you cut through both thicknesses of paper. This is a time-consuming job and must be done carefully, so allow yourself several hours to work quietly. You’ll have a work of art.

6. When cutting is completed, set aside the bottom piece. What you have made is the "lead" portion of the stained glass window. The areas cut away will be filled in with colored "glass."

7. Tear narrow strips of transparent tape and, starting at the top of the design, place them on the lead, being sure to extend into the points of the holly leaves. Using the photo as a guide, place a piece of cellophane over the area and burnish with your thumbnail to press in place on the tape; trim off any excess color that extends beyond the lead. Add remaining pieces of color, one at a time, in same way, using tracing paper for white portions of wreath.

8. Place finished design over the bottom piece. With edges flush and cut-out areas matching perfectly, clip together at side edges and place strips of double-face tape along top edge of bottom piece. Press paper layer to bottom layer to make a firm bond. Remove clips.

9. Now, starting at the top again, lift the upper layer and repeat taping the lead areas on the bottom pieces as in Step 7, taping about 2" across the design at a time. As you work downward, press and burnish the layers together.

1 square = 2"

Color chart: bow = Red; Leaves = emerald green; Leaf = chartreuse; Berries = assorted

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