One Crafty Product = A Permanent Thing

I like making things – crafty things,  decorating things,  pretty things,  wearable things, and most of all thrifty things.  Sometimes I make things as a temporary “fix” thing, until I can afford to buy the “real” thing.   A few times, I have actually wasted my money on a “fix” thing or did some-thing I should have saved my money on to put towards the so desperately wanted thing.

This post is not about what I made, but how a crafty” fix” thing turned into a positively permanent thing.

This is the interior view of my front door.  When I moved into my house 16 1/2 years ago I wanted to have sidelights of beveled glass.  The door and sidelights that came with my house, which was a builder’s “spec” house,  were nice, but plain.  I knew I didn’t want to cover them up as that would block the light.  I like lots and lots of light.

I remember seeing a Pella door with beveled glass at a local home improvement store and loving it.  Since we were in a brand new house with a brand new mortgage there was no way I could get a new door, since we already had a brand new door. It would just have to be something I would put into my “someday” idea file.

Then not too long after seeing that Pella door I went to the craft store and stumbled upon a new product called Gallery Glass (this was back in the early 1990′s)  I read all the directions and there was a project book that I skimmed through while still in the store.  Most of  the projects they showed were colored  stained glass looks.  That didn’t quite float my boat, but I got the idea of using the crystal clear color and to copy the design from the Pella window.  Gallery Glass doesn’t cost a lot, so I figured I had nothing to lose.

Fast forward to today- when these photos were taken.  The sidelights still look as good as the day I put Gallery Glass on them 16 years ago.  I have cleaned them, they have gone through temperature extremes, and still look like new.  Plus, I checked to make sure it would come off if I no longer wanted the beveled look, it peels right off like a window cling does.  Total cost was under $15.00.  Today it may be a bit more, but not much.

So my crafty” fix” became a pretty thrifty permanent decorating thing.

Gallery Glass is sold at craft stores.  When I went to check what the craft store carried  last week I couldn’t believe all the added products Plaid makes to go with the glass paint. Pre-made leading strips was one of them that would have saved me a lot of time back in 1994 as I had to make my own using lined notebook paper as a guide.

Here is the pattern that I used.  Depending on the size of your window you can add a section at the top and bottom to fit your window as I did.

This is the exterior of my front door.  The Gallery Glass  is very subtle from the outside.  It was quite funny when one of my neighbors walked past my house after I did it and asked me when I got beveled glass in my sidelights?

Plaid Enterprises who make Gallery Glass is not paying or giving me anything to write this post. This is truly a post about something I did using what turned out to be a great craft product that has lasted a long time.  I thought that fact alone was worth posting.

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Tagged as: Craft Products, DIY Decorating Ideas, Gallery Glass Window Color