If you have ever received glass block crafts as gifts, you will see that they make beautiful decorations, at Christmas time or any other time of year. If you are amazed at the beauty they show off, you may be ready to use glass blocks in some of your own home craft projects. They make truly unique gifts for those people on your list who are always hard to buy for, and if you let the materials spark your imagination, you will be pleased by the multitude of craft ideas you can come up with that use glass blocks.
Be especially careful when you are first starting out with glass blocks. It’s very easy to break them, as many crafters have found out the hard way. If you will be using a drill on your craft pieces, use a small bit, rather than a large one, to prevent as much breakage as you can. If you’re making a basic decoration from glass blocks, you’ll need either an 8x8 or 6x6 glass block to start with. The other materials you’ll need are multi-colored or white lights (a strand with 30 or 60 lights works well), a drill and a glass drill bit, some large bows, a glue gun and a snowflake or other medium sized tree ornament.
First you will want to clean off your glass block, making sure that you dry it thoroughly. Then drill a one inch hole into a side of your block, and clean the dust off your block. Don’t be surprised if there is dust inside the block that won’t come out. This is to be expected when you make glass block crafts. Feed a strand of lights through the hole you just made, leaving the plug sticking out, and attach your ornament and bow to the top of your glass block with the glue gun. Then plug it in and listen to the oooo’s and ahhhhh’s.
If you enjoy painting, buy some sealant and paint for glass, and paint your glass block with your favorite designs or pictures. After the paint is dry, brush or paint your sealant on. If you need ideas for what type of patterns to paint, head to a craft store and buy some stencils to use as patterns.
You can glue some fabric to the glass blocks, or a print of whatever the recipient likes to collect. If your craft is for a bridal shower, you may enjoy picking out wedding themed fabric, and you can find cute baby prints for a baby shower gift. Decorated glass blocks also work excellently as night lights.
Rub-on transfers work particularly well for decorating glass blocks. You can use them to create a garden-themed craft for the special gardener in your life. Don’t forget to apply sealant when you’re done with the transfer. You can also transfer computer images to adhesive sheets at office supply stores, and these will adhere nicely to your block. Your imagination is the limit when you are creating glass block crafts.