Up-cycle Old Glass Table Top to Stained Glass Mosaic Wall Light

by APieceofRainbow

7 Materials

Here's a surprise birthday gift I made for my dear hubby! It's made from an 42" big old glass table top!

up cycle old glass table top to stained glass mosaic wall light, crafts, diy, lighting, repurposing upcycling, wall decor

I have long dreamed of making something with stained glass for our home , but was a bit intimidated to start. When Jeff told me he had to take 2 trips the month before his birthday, I saw a perfect golden opportunity: a gorgeous SURPRISE gift as motivation(can still buy one if I fail), and days of not having to hide my work in progress!

Stained glass mosaic requires fewer tools and materials than stained glass. All you need is a glass base, adhesive, grout, and tools to work with glass. MOST important are these 3 safety tips-goggles, gloves, and don’t rub your eyes while cutting glass!! Here's the old glass table top. It has a metal ring around it, perfect for this project!

The process is simple: draw a shape you need on the glass with a maker, score the cut line with a glass cutter, then break the piece off with the pliers. Straight lines are the easiest. Curved lines may need to be done in steps with more gradual curve in each step. Apply a little glue on the piece and press it onto the base glass surface.

The design is inspired by one of the rose windows of Notre Dame. I adapted the geometry, and incorporated images of those simple and sweet moments in our life together, such as hiking in mountains and forests, watching sunset by the ocean, growing a garden, picking fruits at orchards, etc.

I printed a 1:1 scale drawing at a blueprint store, and taped it to the back of the table as a guide.

When all the pieces are glued in place, mix up the grout per specs on the bag, and apply it. I used SANDED grout.

The back lighting was easy, just a roll of LED strip lights, which adheres to the inside of the metal rim around the glass.

We used super heavy duty picture hanging gears to hang this 72lb piece! For more details, visit link below!

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Josh on Jun 10, 2018

I know I’m very late to this post, and I apologize. My question is this though: What type of heavy duty picture hanging gears, how were they adhered to the piece, and where were they purchased? 72lbs is a stunning amount of weight to be supported by glue and hung from a wall. Thank you in advance for your help and the steps you took to create such a beautiful work or art. It is inspirational, at the very least, and supremely appreciated!

3
Letty Green on Oct 10, 2018

I would like to do this on a 'fan shape' window above my front doors. It gets a lot of sun there. Will heat affect this?

1
Becky on Oct 15, 2018

Which one shows y'all seeing the sunset, gardening, etc?

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Carey Marshall on Jul 15, 2024

This is absolutely stunning! What a gorgeous job you did. I started a very small piece of stained glass applied just like this. I thought it was turning out well, but I didn't hide it well enough and my husband saw it prior to finishing it and thought it was a piece of junk and tossed it! Never to that again! 😂 But had I been given a choice I would still keep him!

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Alice Norton on Jul 17, 2024

It looks amazing! You did a really great job and I'm sure your husband liked the gift. As everyone here, I enjoy crafting, but I've never tried working with glass. I looked through various glass items and even addressed One Day Glass customer service in the hope of learning how to create such things on my own. I guess such a wall light like yours could be a great start for me. Thanks for sharing!

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