I am SO excited to have been invited to be a part of the 2014 Elmer’s “Crafty Mamas” crew, and we’re looking forward to sharing some of our favorite crafts and activities with you throughout the coming year. Today we’re using some of our favorite Elmer’s products to make these sweet Valentine’s Day window clings!
What You’ll Need:
- Elmer’s School Glue
- Elmer’s Classic or Swirl Glitter Glue
- Elmer’s Glitter (optional)
- Liquid watercolors or food coloring
- Plastic page protector sheets
- Valentine’s Day themed clipart or coloring book page
My kids are totally enthralled with glitter glue, and Elmer’s Swirl Glam Glitter Glue is their favorite. It actually really does swirl out colored and silver glitter glue at the same time for a totally unique look!
Begin by coloring the School Glue with either liquid watercolors or food coloring. I used about 1-2 tsp of liquid watercolors for each of my bottles of glue. Mix well with a wooden skewer or shake vigorously.
Place your clip art or coloring book page inside of the plastic page protector sheet. Start by outlining your objects – you can use either the glitter glue to outline or the colored school glue. Either one works fine!
Next, fill in the outline. Again, you can use either the glitter glue or the colored school glue to fill the shape; however, I prefer to use the school glue for larger shapes simply because it is a bit thinner and easier to spread. Use a toothpick to pop and remove any air bubbles that may have formed.
Now for the hard part…put your lovely window cling designs somewhere safe, and leave them to dry undisturbed for 24-48 hours. Temperature and humidity can affect your drying time, so if possible, place them somewhere warm and dry.
As the designs start to dry, they will naturally release themselves from the page protector plastic. The shapes will be soft and pliable once they have dried completely, and the school glue with have a translucent quality.
Stick your new window clings to your favorite window and show off your Valentine’s Day spirit!
If you have difficulty getting the clings to stick to the window surface (usually due to cold temperatures), heat the design briefly with a hot hair dryer, and apply immediately to the window.
For more fun craft ideas, be sure to sign up for the Elmer’s Newsletter and check them out on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest! Happy crafting!
Laura Brewer says
Adorable!! Gotta do this. Valentines day is coming fast!!! Gotta make some NOW lol
Tami Heddleston says
Thanks for this great idea! I am going to do this with my preschoolers! They love doing this kind of stuff! Speaking of glitter glue and sheet protectors….I was experimenting today with Elmer’s glitter glue and sheet protectors. I squirted small amounts of several different colors INSIDE my sheet protector then rubbed my fingers around to fuse the colors together; some just touching each other and some mixed together. I put it in the window to see how it would look with the light coming through! It was so pretty that I’ve decided to let my preschoolers have at it! I’m excited to hear their comments as they create! They will make beautiful window decorations as the light shines through. A great compliment to the window clings!
Heidi says
What a fantastic idea, Tami! I’m going to add this to my to-do list as well. This sounds like a fantastic activity to keep my preschooler busy while I’m doing homeschool lessons with the older boys. Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Leslie says
Cool! They came out so nice!
Susan Robert says
Hello, I love all of your ideas but I do have a suggestion. Many times I like to print out the activities and give them to my staff, is there any way you can do a pdf file to print them out?
Heidi says
Hi Susan! I wasn’t able to offer a printable of this particular sheet because I was in a hurry, so I just used a few heart images that came from a Google image search (not available to be distributed or for commercial use) as our template. In the future when I have a few extra minutes to spare, I will try to go back and create a printable to go along with this post that I can share. Thanks so much for stopping by! 🙂
SewCalGal says
Do I have a fun project idea to create using this tutorial. Thank you for sharing and inspiring.
SewCalGal
http://www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com