Hand painted Sunflower wine glass

Mother’s Day is fast approaching and here you are trying to think of something you can get Mom that she doesn’t already have?  A gift card is so impersonal, but a handmade creation is something she will treasure forever.  Why not serve her breakfast in bed and include her orange juice in a hand-painted sunflower wine glass? Or better yet, just stick that gift card in the wineglass and tie a ribbon bow around the stem.  Not an artist?  No problem, just follow these easy step-by-step directions and you will have a wineglass to be proud of. 

You will need:

Gloss acrylic paint (specifically for glass, it will say it on the label) in yellow, yellow ochre, brown, black and green

Wine glass (The dollar store is a great source for wineglasses in all sizes

Two paintbrushes, medium flat and small liner

Alcohol

Paper towels

Paper plate

Home oven and baking sheet

1.     Wipe the glass all around with a paper towel saturated with alcohol to remove all oils and dust.

2.     Squirt some of each color of glass paint on a paper plate.  Load the larger brush with some brown paint.  Working with a dabbing motion, paint a large circle shape on the center of the glass.  Rinse your brush out with some water. While the paint is still wet on the glass, dab some black paint all around the edges of the brown circle.  Rinse brush.  Dab some yellow paint on the inner edges of the black paint all around.  Finish by dabbing some back in the shape of a smaller circle in the center. Rinse your brush. (See photo)

3.     Load your brush with some yellow paint and begin painting petal shapes.  Vary the sizes, and don’t worry about perfection.  Natural petals are tear shaped and pointed at the ends, but not perfect.  Continue adding petals until you have gone completely around the center.  While the paint is still wet on the glass outline the petals with the darker yellow ochre color.  Let dry.

4.     Use the liner paintbrush and some black paint to make some pointed lines all around the center of the flower.  (See photo) Let dry.

5.     Repeat steps 2 through 4 to make another sunflower on the opposite side of the glass.  Let dry.

6.     Starting from a petal on each side, paint a green line down the stem of the wineglass. Add four leaf shapes on the base.  Paint the entire stem green and let dry.  Use the liner brush to paint vein lines with black paint on the leaves.

7.     Set the paint so you can wash your wine glass by baking in a 325-degree oven for 30 minutes.  Let the oven cool before removing the glass.

Note:  By heat setting the wineglass it is top rack dishwasher safe, but I always recommend hand washing.  This project is quick, easy and inexpensive.  Acrylic glass paint dries quickly so why not make a whole set?