A Transformation in Faux!

Well… I did it! And I LOVE it!!

What did I do? If you dropped by DesignTies on Friday you would have read my post on leaded glass… and you would have learned that I have (had) three plain piano windows in need of some special character. You would have also read that I was too cheap to hire an artisan to make me some lovely leaded glass for my windows! HaHa!!

My solution… go faux!

I went to my local craft store and picked up a sticky tape that, when adhered on the glass, looks like lead along with some liquid leading to create the “soldered joins”. I also purchased a product that transforms glass from bland and boring into lovely, crystal-like antique glass.

You’ll recall from my previous post that I put a lot of thought and research into a pattern for our faux leaded glass windows, only to find the perfect pattern in our back yard – the pattern found on our original front door and an interior French door that once lead to our dining room.

The pattern was perfect – I jumped at the chance to re-introduce this original element of our little old house!

Translating this pattern to our piano window was tricky. But I got it in the end!

The first few strips of “lead” were challenging… I kept laying it crooked! I got the hang of it, though. It’s all about sticking small sections at a time. That’s the only way to get it straight!

My poor Brian!

He was working hard on our front yard when I asked him to pull out the ladder and climb up to place a template on the outside of the window :-)  He’s always so agreeable!!  Of course, once he taped it up I could see that the pattern I’d drawn would be too small for our window. Rather then ask Brian to climb up with another template, though, I used this one… it helped me make straight lines and all I had to do was add an inch to the bottom portion.

Here’s a look at the window with all its “lead” in place:

 

Next, I used the faux liquid lead to “solder” all the joins.

Just a simple dab was all that was needed to fill in the small gaps at each join… and it really does look like they’ve been soldered!

Next came the creation of the “antique glass”

I used a swirly pattern in the long frame sections and, in the corners and in the centre diamonds, I stippled it. It goes on white like this, but within a few hours it dries completely clear. The next morning I realized that I should have put a texture/affect in the centre strips… so I did.

 

This time I used a striped pattern… and I put a little more of the product in the centre triangle to enhance the stippled look I was going for.

 

 

 

Ready to see the final result?

It’s a very subtle affect, but Brian and I love it!

I’m sharing this transformation as part of Susan’s Metamorphosis Monday blogparty. I hope you’ll make your way back to her blog, Between Naps on the Porch, to check out all the other transformations shared this week!

Thanks for dropping by!!

P.S. All my photos are close up, making the neighbour’s roof look like it’s within reaching distance. It’s not! We find that the leaded glass look that we created has really helped to mask the view our our neighbour’s house… really!