Glass Suncatcher
A sun catcher or a light catcher as is it also known, is a small, reflective glass piece that is usually hung indoors, so that it "catches the light" from any source close by. Glass sun catchers are normally hung at windows. The first glass sun catchers were made by the Southwestern American Indians. Glass sun catchers are still quite popular in that region.
Glass sun catchers can either be mass-produced, or they may even be made by hand. Glass paper weights can be of wavering simplicity of design ranging from an arts and crafts assignment to a skillfully handmade glass figure. A glass sun catcher is somewhat like the visual counterpart of a wind chime, and indeed many glass sun catchers combine the designs of both.
The glass used in glass sun catchers usually comes from recycled art glass factories. Ruby red produces many tones and hues of red and yellow sun catchers. Blues vary from cobalt to a soft, paler blue sun catcher. Greens vary from being dark teal, celadon and hunter. Purples range from being amethyst to pale lilacs.
Glass sun catchers are quite easy to make as well. Glass sun catchers can be personalized by using colorful clipart or even photographs which will catch the rays of the sun and produce a mini rainbow from your window. You can create your very own glass sun catcher by using window cling decal sheets which are available in any office or computer supply stores. Along with that beveled glass would be required which is available in many various shapes and can easily be purchased in craft stores. Using these items you can easy create a beautiful sun catcher. The best part about these glass sun catchers is that if you get tired of the design you have used, you can easily just peel off the cling decal sheets and place a new design over it! Among all the different shapes which you can use, rectangular, square and circular shapes are the easiest to work with as it easy to crop the clipart or photo onto your glass sun catcher. The glass shapes used for making a glass sun catcher usually come with a hole already made through the top so all that is required is a suction cup hanger and it is ready to use.
The procedure for making a glass sun catcher is as follows:
First, open a page in the graphics program you will be using. Next, measure the part of the glass which will be holding the decal sheet. If the glass shape is beveled, then it would be a good idea to measure the inside of the beveled area as well.
Then choose the clipart or photo you want to use and size it so that it matches the area which you have measured. Print the photo/clipart on plain paper and cut the design to make sure that it properly fits onto the glass. Once you are happy with the size and shape of your chose design, print the window cling decal over the design as dictated in the manufacturer’s instructions. All that is required next is to let the window cling decal dry for a while. An important piece of advice would be not to cut the design off before peeling the back of the cling decal. So, first you need to feel the backing off and then cut your design.
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