Glass Fusing Tutorial: Snowy Night Murrine Ornament

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    Download a printable .PDF file of this tutorial here: [Snowy Night Ornament]
    fused glass christmas ornament with murrine
    This beginner-friendly fused glass art tutorial will guide you through making a charming winter ornament, perfect for a gift or decorating your own home. This tutorial is a great jumping off point for new projects - try using Glacial Art Glass murrine and powdered frit stencils in your next work!

       You will need:

      COE 90 COE 96

       

      Step 1:

      blue and clear sheet glass squares, cut sheet glass triangles

      Start by cutting your sheet glass squares diagonally in half so you’re left with two triangles. Then, take one of the triangles and trace the outline onto your notecard; this will be the base for your stencil.


      Step 2:

      cut sheet glass triangle and powdered glass stencils


          Starting at the bottom of your triangle outline, draw your stencil. This can be as simple or elaborate as you want and it will still look good! You can get fancy and draw a pine tree silhouette, or just do a jagged pointy line that looks like a mountain range. When you’re done, carefully cut out your stencil.

      Step 3:

      a simple stencil on cut sheet glass
      a complex stencil on cut sheet glass


          Cover the Aventurine Blue triangle in your glass adhesive. Align your stencil the way you want it, making sure to press down on any corners that might be sticking up. Make sure to place your triangle on a piece of paper or tray for easy cleanup of the powdered frit later.

      Tip: if you are having trouble getting your stencil to stay completely down, you can use a small amount of watered-down Elmer’s glue instead of Glastac and it will have no effect on the finished piece.

      Step 4:

      powdered glass on cut sheet glass and stencil


          Take your powdered frit and gently apply it over the exposed part of the Aventurine Blue triangle. We just put the frit in a small paper cup and carefully tap it to control the flow, but if you have a small strainer you want to dedicate to glass, that works even better. You want to put enough frit on that all the blue glass is covered – don’t worry if it looks uneven! The thicker the frit is, the more opaque your design will be, and thinner spots will show more of the blue background.

      Step 5:

      cut sheet glass triangle with powdered glass design


          Remove the stencil by pulling it up and away from the frit, being very careful not to disturb your pattern. It’s okay if it looks like there are clumps or if some frit falls into the negative space when you remove your stencil! You can take a small paintbrush and brush the powder back in line, or leave it where it is and it will just look like more snow on your winter scene.

      Step 6:
          Take the clear sheet glass triangle and cover the bottom half in your glass adhesive. Then, take the Aventurine Blue triangle with the powdered frit and carefully put it on top, slightly offset so there is a small line of clear sheet glass exposed at the bottom for your border.

      Step 7:

      cut sheet glass triangle decorated with star murrine and snowflake murrine


          Time to decorate! Put white star murrine in the sky above your powdered frit design, then place your dots and murrine in a pattern at the bottom.

      Step 8:

      diagram how to make hook for fused glass christmas ornament


          To make a hook to hang the ornament from, take two sticks of clear sheet glass, and place them underneath the Aventurine Blue triangle so that they’re resting against the clear triangle and sticking out from the tip diagonally. Then take two more pieces of clear sheet glass and lay them on top of the first two to create a “roof”, overlapping at the corners and peak.

      Step 9:
          Fire!

      Kiln Schedule:

      Rate (degrees/hour) Temperature Soak (hold time)
      500°F/hour 1200°F/650°C 10 minutes
      300°F/hour 1500°F/815°C 10 minutes
      As Fast As Possible  900°F/480°C 20 minutes
      150°F/hour 700°F/370°C 30 minutes

       

      More Suggestions:
       - Try using our Zanfirico Cane as a border embellishment; Midnight Blue and French Vanilla (C101) looks great with these colors!

      - Put a few white frit balls in the sky with the star murrine to look like smaller stars

      image of four ornaments, each slightly different

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