My bathroom window was clear and it came down a little low for my comfort. I wanted more privacy, but loved the view and the light from the window so didn't want curtains. This was my solution:

My son liked my window, so I did this one for him next to his front door. (The horizontal blue bar near the bottom of the window is his porch railing, not part of the window.)

I'm not sure you can tell in the picture, but in my son's window there is a blue band all around the outside and the center is clear. These are hard to photograph, sorry.

You can buy kits or patterns, but I designed my own after getting inspiration from windows I saw on the web. On both windows I hot glued on some florist marbles as accents.

I don't think I would be so good at all that glass cutting and caning, but I can paint, and so can you, right? This isn't real stained glass -- it's painted on so yes you can do it! Do you have a window in your house where you would like something like this? You can buy kits or patterns. Then transfer the design to the window with transfer paper. Then apply the "instant leading" strips, then paint. On the first window I made the entire thing right on the window. On the second window because it's easier to work at home than at someone else's house I did the flowers, leaves, and dragonfly on clings. I got to sit on my duff at my dining room table. The rest I did on site.

Luvstocraft thank you. On the first window I used kleenex and paper towels to clean up some drips. On the second window much less so. It's okay to put on 2-3 thin layers rather than one heavy one. At one point I was squeezing a bottle and the whole top popped off and the paint blobbed all down the window, but it cleaned up fine.

On the first window I also felt unhappy with the way some colors came out when they were dry. So I took my exacto, cut around the edges, peeled it off, and replaced it. That was a bit tricky because some of the paint wanted to stay on the leading lines, so I replaced a few of them. It is hard to tell just how it's going to look dry when it's still wet.

The thing is, it's just paint so it's very forgiving and easy to clean up messes. I think if any of you have been thinking about it you should try it.

If and when I do another I'll be happy to share with you, thanks. :-)

Anjabee thanks. I'm really happy with the way they turned out in person. I was pretty excited to figure out that I can do this any ol' time I want. It's worth trying it and practicing.

Good luck finding the pattern you love. You might try snooping through google images under "stained glass" and collect up a few you like best in a folder, then sketching out your own pattern that is similar. You'll find tons of inspiration. One of the things that's neat about it is you can do it in the colors that go with your room. You might even have a fabric in the room that has a motif you like and can use. Or sit and doodle out a few thoughts and just play with it.

I love the jewels they have in stained glass windows, and I looked around but everything like that had silvering on the back. So I figured the marbles were as close as I'd get. I like the way they turned out as the dimension gives a little texture and more reality to it, I think, and they come in lots of colors.

I love that your SIL did that. I have a huge transom window over my front door I'd love to do but there's no way I'm hanging out on a ladder there for hours. The landing in front of the door is teensy because it's a split entry and there isn't much good way to angle a ladder. So my next one (which won't be for a few months it looks like) will be for that area. I figured I'd pick up a window at a salvage place, work it, then ask my son to hang it. But the area is big and it will be heavy. I thought about plexiglas, but it's expensive and I'd still need a frame for it. I'm just not sure how to do this yet. I'm open to ideas! My sidelight window is privacy glass so I can't do that one. I could buy a real one, but it would take forever to find the right size; it would be expensive; and I have parrots -- if they chewed on the lead they'd be poisoned.

Paintingfool thanks for the kind words. I discovered early that it's impossible to pipe a straight line, at least for me. So I bought the leading strips for that. It's not hard to pipe a curved line with the paint from www.windowbutterflies.com but all her paints are meant to be used on horizontal surfaces like clings... they're pretty runny for right on the window. The GG paint is thicker.

To all:

The first window I did all vertically right on the window with Gallery Glass. The second window I did the art elements on clings, stuck them to the window, applied the rest of the leading lines, then piped on the rest of the color. That helped cut down on the time I had to spend on my feet at my son's house doing his window.

The leading lines aren't easy to lay perfectly straight. I learned to check them with a ruler, and to try to lay them very lightly and nudge them with a ruler (that didn't work too well), and I also held a ruler up close as I laid some, which helped. None of them are absolutely perfect. But the good news is that real stained glass windows aren't perfect either.

It would be easier to do a design with no, or few straight lines, like fish swimming, or asymmetrical flowers and leaves. The curved lines are easier and don't have to be perfect, especially if they're a rather freeform design. It's harder to do a design with lots of straight lines and matching sides, but it can be done, just needs a little more patience and a few more cuss words. ;-) But you all probably know that from painting already.

As to the stuff running it IS a problem. On my first window I fought that. On my second window I used less paint and did more layers and that worked better. In some places I just smeared on a thin layer with my finger, and tried not to leave it looking like a child's finger painting. The marbelized effect just happens on its own since the paint is thicker and thinner in different spots.

I think you all should try it. I think you'll be amazed at what you can do. The easier way is to do clings while sitting at your table, then put them up, attach with leading lines, and fill in. One word about that, though... I didn't apply the clings right away. They were at my house for a while before I took them over there. At that point I had more trouble getting them to stick to the window. I actually used a little hot glue in a couple of points, spread very thin on the back of a point that refused to stay down. It's also a lot easier with small clings than with big ones. I had more problem with the bottom part of that tall window, as it's clings patched together.

Another thing... you may hear that you can do a design on a window and peel it off and stick it on the window. I tried that and when I peeled it, it stretched and tore. I used the clings after that.

If anyone knows of a good place to get clings bigger than 8.5x11 I would love to know about it please!

I just posted these here with the hopes that it would inspire you all to try some of your own. It's very gratifying to be able to get exactly the window you want, one of a kind if you like to design, and much cheaper than a real stained glass window. I talked with one gal who daid her window had been up for ten years and might have faded just a wee bit but otherwise looked as good as the day she finished it.

I also did these windows in several sessions, giving paint time to dry so I wouldn't smear one area while working on another -- and giving me time to rest.

If you go to www.windowbutterflies.com she has a video there of her making clings. I did her "blending" technique on a window cling, but not for these windows as I wanted them to look like real stained glass. She is a wonderfully kind lady to talk with on the phone and her paints are perfect for clings.

Hope that helps and inspires someone here to try! If you do, I hope you'll post pictures here. :-)