Alcohol Ink on Glass

Are you ready for another alcohol ink project? This is a very beautiful way to use alcohol ink on glass, and it’s soooooo easy, I almost don’t need to even write this post! But I’ll walk you through it just the same. 🙂

Alcohol Ink on Glass

The first time I tried out this technique, I didn’t actually have any cellophane on hand. But I wanted to try it out anyway, so I substituted a plastic produce bag instead.. I love the way that one turned out:

You don’t need much in the way of supplies to do this project. I have linked to some of the supplies below. The Pinata Exciter Pack are the same inks that I have used here, and for most of my alcohol ink projects. They go a long way! For glassware, I purchased all of mine at the Dollarama.

Supplies

• Alcohol Ink

• Glassware

• Cellophane Wrap

• 91% Isopropyl Alcohol

• Paper Towels

• Cotton Swabs

• Painter’s Tape

For Sealing

• Kamar Varnish

• UV-Resistant Clear Gloss

• Triple Thick Clear Glaze

How to

Here is a quick “how to overview” if you prefer a video click here.

There really isn’t anything difficult about this project. Basically you squeeze drops of alcohol ink on a piece of Saran Wrap.

and then wrap it around a bowl, or a mug

and then leave it overnight to dry

Once dry you remove the Saran Wrap and clean up any areas where you don’t want ink. That’s pretty much it 🙂 But since I have made a few of these, here are a few helpful hints for you

Measure

Measure out your piece of cellophane before you start adding your ink. Make sure that it will fully cover the piece that you are working with

Gloves

It’s best to wear gloves when working with alcohol inks as they will stain your skin. If you don’t wear gloves you can get most of the staining out with alcohol and then soap and water. And as we have all just recently been giving a refresher in hand washing, that shouldn’t be a problem.

Wrinkles are your friend

For once wrinkles work in your favour! When you wrap your glassware up, you will want to have wrinkles in the wrapper. If you were to smooth it out entirely, you would not get much variation in the ink, and it might not give you the effect you are looking for. So if you are a perfectionist, don’t waste your time trying to get your cellophane all smoothed out as this will actually work against you!

Direction will change the pattern

Depending on which direction you wrap, will depend on how the design comes out. If you wrap around the bowl  Like this one you will get a horizontal and leafy type pattern. If you wrap upward, Pulling the cellophane from the bottom and folding it over the top rim of the bowl, you will get more of a vertical and striated design, like the one below. The effect is similar with somewhat subtle differences. So it really just depends on what type of design you are going for. But if you are using dollar store mugs and bowls, go ahead and experiment a little!

White Space

The white space that you see on these bowls, is just a result of the way that the cellophane adhered to the glass. I did not leave any intentional white space when I applied the ink and wrapping. The white spaces are merely due to the drying patterns of the alcohol ink. As a matter of fact, I tried to ensure full ink coverage before leaving them to dry.

Clean up

Don’t worry too much about getting ink on the bottom or inside of the piece. It cleans up pretty easily with alcohol. I would however caution you to be careful about the exterior when cleaning so as to not smudge your design. If you wish you can tape the bottom so the cleaning is minimal. Or you can always leave it as is.

Plastic

I did most of these on glass, but I also did a few on plastic bowls. They had a much different look to the glassware. I preferred the way the glass came out. Also, the ink dried very quickly on the plastic, and only needed to sit for about 5-10 minutes, before removing the plastic wrap, I did leave one overnight and most of the ink peeled off with the cellophane.  So if you are using plastic piece, then remove the wrapping sooner. On the bright side the plastic bowls I purchase were 4/$1.00, so not big deal if I screwed a few of them up:)

Protecting and Sealing

One important thing you need to know about alcohol inks, is that they fade if not treated. So, if you want to maintain the beauty of your pieces, then you will need to spray them with a few different sprays. If however, you are merely doing these for fun, then you are done!

Kamar Varnish – which is a fixative, so your inks don’t move when applying other finishes

UV-Resistant Clear Gloss – So they don’t fade, as alcohol ink will fade over time if not treated and exposed to sunlight

Triple Thick Clear Glaze – To give them that beautiful glossy finish

And that is all there is to this alcohol ink on glass project.  It really is so easy it’s stupid! No reason why you can’t make some of these beautiful bowls, mugs or whatever you like. Go and create something beautiful 🙂

If you liked this post, here are another couple of alcohol ink posts that might interest you!

22 ALCOHOL INK PROJECTS

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