In this post I’m going to show you how to make beautiful art glass paperweights at home. The materials are easy to find and the process is easy to understand. All you need is a little patience and some time on your hands.
I have been making art glass paperweights for years. In high school, during lunch, I would experiment with colored glass, trying out new techniques and learning different methods of color mixing. Over the course of a few years, I learned how to make some pretty cool paperweights, but my collection was always missing one thing: a large piece of blue glass.
The problem with blue glass is that it’s expensive. If you’re making your own paperweights, you know that each piece takes about 4 hours to make. Those 4 hours add up quickly when you’re paying $10 a pound for material!
In this blog post I’ll show you how I was able to get my blue glass at almost no cost by recycling another piece of art glass. But first we need to talk about the tools you’ll need for this project…
Making art glass paperweights at home is a great way to spend some time and money. It is not an expensive hobby. All you need is a few basic tools, patience and imagination.
You should know that glass paperweights are also called “art glass paperweights” and they are created by pouring molten glass into a mold.
If you start making your own art glass paperweights you’ll see that it can be quite addictive. Once you get good at it, you’ll want to keep making them over and over again.
Where to Start?
Before we tell you all about how to make art glass paperweights, let’s answer the question of where to start. You want to do this for fun, so there’s no need to rush things or buy more expensive equipment than you really need. We tell you about all the different ways to create your own art glass paperweights below but we recommend starting with the low cost option of using a cold-working kiln or cold-working torch and then move up from there as you gain experience and confidence.
What’s the best way to Make Art Glass Paperweights at Home?
There are many ways to make art glass paperweights at home. In fact, there are so many ways that it can be
This is the blog of a professional artist who makes paperweights at home. I am a paperweight maker and glass artist based in San Francisco, California. This is my website where I showcase my art glass work. I make art glass paperweights, votive holders, bowls, floating glass candle holder, Christmas ornaments and more.
Tired of paying through the nose for those expensive commercial art glass paperweights? Are you interested in making your own art glass paperweights? Here are some easy steps to make a beautiful art glass paperweight at home.
Look around your house for a round object that can be converted into an amazing piece of art. A round crystal vase or a wine bottle will work well for this purpose. A wine bottle will give you the advantage to make a larger sized paperweight and it is easier to convert into a beautiful art glass paperweight than using a crystal vase or other similar objects. Use thick and clear bottle such as beer bottles and wine bottles so that you can convert it easily into an amazing art piece with your creativity. Here are some easy steps to make a beautiful art glass paperweight at home:
First of all remove the label from the bottle using acetone or nail polish remover and wash it thoroughly under running
How to make glass paperweights at home is a question often asked by people who want to make their own paperweights. The answer to this question has several parts.
The first part of the answer is that you can’t just go out and buy a glass paperweight. You need to start with a piece of glass, which you can get from a variety of places.
Tin Can Glass – One popular source for glass is old soda or beer cans that you flatten out and cut into small pieces. This type of glass is called “tin can” glass because it used to be made from old tin cans. It’s easy to cut and shape into a paperweight, but it’s usually not very clear, so it doesn’t produce very attractive results.
Glass Purchased From Hobby Stores – The easiest way to get the right kind of glass for making paperweights is to purchase it from a hobby store. Many hobby stores have pieces of colored and clear glass in stock that are perfect for making your own paperweights at home. If you don’t have one nearby, there are several on-line sources for different types of art glass pieces.
Making Your Own Glass At Home – There are two main ways that people make their own glass at home: kiln
Art glass paperweights have been made in the United States since around 1850. They are still popular and highly collectible today, but art glass paperweights are not very well understood.
Art glass paperweights started out as real objects in nature, which were then replicated in glass by hand, using an expensive and time-consuming process. The replica was then called a paperweight because they were heavy enough to hold down papers on a desk.
Toward the end of the 19th century, art glass paperweights became more like true works of art, with the addition of colors (mostly just two) and bubbles. The colors were added by dipping the clear glass into colored liquid (a process called “dichroic coloring”), or by putting a layer of colored glass on the outside (a process called “layering”). The bubbles were created in a variety of ways, most simply by spinning molten glass.
The addition of color and bubbles changed the purpose of art glass paperweights from holding down papers to being attractive to look at. This change led to a name change from “paperweight” to “art glass.”
Art glass paperweights became extremely popular in Europe after World War II, when many families had been displaced from their homes and had little to keep them
Paperweights are usually used to hold down paper or documents. Most people think of paperweights as cheap and fragile, but they can be made into amazing works of art.
The process of making a paperweight is quite simple. You will need the following supplies:
Bottle – A clear glass bottle can be purchased at most craft stores. Bottles with colored glass work best for this project because you can use the color as part of your design.
Colored glass – Gather enough colored glass to cover at least a quarter of the bottle. Colored glass can be found at most craft stores in large quantities for an inexpensive price.
Hot glue gun – A hot glue gun is needed to melt the colored glass onto the bottle. These are also available at most craft stores.
Glass cutting tool – An X-Acto knife or another type of glass cutting tool is needed to carve designs into the bottle. These tools can be found at most craft and hobby stores, often located near scrapbooking supplies.
Glasses – You will need to wear eye protection while cutting and working with your bottle so it is also necessary to wear glasses while performing this task.
Tissue paper – Tissue paper will be needed to dab the hot glue gun so that it
A paperweight is a small weight used to hold down pieces of paper. The term “paperweight” is often used interchangeably with “sculpture”.
