Using Pebeo Vitrea 160 glass paints on drinking glasses

Pebeo Vitrea 160 glass paints for everyday use

Today I am playing with the Vitrea 160 glass paints from Pebeo. I love stained glass so was very excited to get started on this project for Crafty Crusaders. I'm also exploring the vitrea 160 paint pens as well as I also used them in this project. 

Firstly because I planned to do some doodling on the glasses I transferred some of the paints into fine tip applicator bottles. There is a combination of applications using fine liners, vitrea 160 markers and a brush application. 

I am doing a different design for each glass and exploring the possibilities of the paints. My boys wanted a graffiti design on one of the glasses so I've done that as well!

• Make sure your glass surface is completely clean and free from residues and oils. I washed mine in the dishwasher first and then cleaned with Methylated Spirits just to be sure. 
• Decide, Before you start painting what you designs will be. A project like this you could use images you already have as a template and fill the glass up with rice. I used this technique to paint this bottle.

• Now an important note: Do not thin these paints with water! There is a thinner available in the vitrea 160 range. The paints are runny enough to drip and the transparency in the range is excellent. The opaque colours and frosting are also very good to act as contrasts to the transparent paints.
• I then proceeded to draw my designs in with fine line applicators. It is important if you are working on a curved surface that you work with the glass flat and then make sure sections are dry before proceeding to the next section. I did this with my zen doodled glass here.

• Each of the panels was done separately when the preceding panel had dried. I then allowed all those panels to dry thoroughly before proceeding to colour in the doodles. 
• When dry I then used fine liners and paintbrushes to apply the colours. I mixed up the opaque and transparent colours for some contrast with this glass.

• With two of the other glasses i applied a thin coat of paint first and then dripped it. Then when that was dry i doodled circles and some scribbles and graffiti in with vitrea 160 pens.

• It is important to note here that you must cure your painted items for at least 24 hours prior to baking them at 160 deg Celsius. Then, when you go to put them in the oven, place them in when the oven is cold and then heat it to 160 degrees. Once full heat has been achieved then put on a timer for 40 minutes. When the timer goes off, just turn the oven off and let the glasses naturally cool down in the oven when it is cooling down, with the oven door closed. Take the glasses out when completely cool to touch. I waited until i had a batch of items before baking as below.

• Also, it is recommended that you pop your dishwasher onto a 'eco' setting for washing. 
• I also learned that as the rims have high wear and tear on an everyday item that it is good not to concentrate paint around the rims. It is also more comfortable for drinking!

Happy painting! let your creativity go and even better let the kids have some fun with glasses they like to drink out of. After all my boys now know that they like the graffiti glasses and the stripy glass to drink of and always pick them!