Free Tutorials

Reindeer Door Hanger ✨

christmas Nov 19, 2025

If you’re looking for a cute, festive Christmas project that’s fun to paint and easy to customize, this little reindeer is going to steal your heart! In today’s tutorial, we’re using the 18-inch Reindeer Door Hanger from Southern Adoornments, but the cutout also comes in multiple sizes, so grab the one that works for your space.

This etched wood blank paints like a dream and feels just like coloring in a giant holiday coloring book. And because we’re extra, we’ll finish the piece with a little touch of glass on the nose and antlers and seal it under resin for that glossy, professional finish.

Step 1: Paint the Reindeer Base Coat

Start by loading your palette with Espresso and a bit of Khaki. These two colors blend beautifully and keep the deer from looking flat.

Paint the entire reindeer face and head area in Espresso, working in sections so you can blend in touches of Khaki as you go. This gives the fur soft dimension and keeps everything from looking monotone. Since the wood su...

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Green Vase Christmas Tree 🎄

christmas Nov 12, 2025

This festive mixed media project proves that even broken things can become beautiful again. In this glass and resin Christmas Tree tutorial, we’ll transform a shattered vase into a shimmering mercury-glass-inspired tree on a 6x12 canvas. With metallic paints, glass pieces, and resin, you’ll create an elegant and reflective piece of holiday art!

Step 1: Prep Your Glass Pieces

If you have a broken vase (or intentionally break one for art purposes — safely and carefully, of course!), gather those curved pieces. Using wheeled nippers, trim around the edges to shape small, curved shards perfect for layering into a tree shape.

Once your pieces are cut, grab a honing stone and lightly smooth all sharp points. Focus on the jagged tips - you don’t need to round every edge completely, just enough to remove anything that could cut your hands during placement.

Step 2: Paint the Background

Start by applying Metallic Pearl White paint over the entire canvas, edges included, using a foam brush...

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Floating Frame Penguin 🐧

christmas winter Nov 05, 2025

Looking for a fun new glass art project that pairs perfectly with your Snowman Frame? This adorable Floating Penguin will melt your heart! Made on a floating glass frame from Hobby Lobby, this project combines painting, cutting, and resin techniques to create a wintery keepsake you can display (and even change backgrounds for!) all season long.

Step 1: Prepare Your Frame

Start by removing the screws and opening the back of your floating frame. Take out one piece of glass (this will be your working surface) and lay it flat on a towel to protect it from scratches. Apply masking tape around all four edges to create a clean border, leaving about ⅜ inch between the tape and the glass edge. This tape not only defines the boundary of your artwork but also ensures the finished glass will fit smoothly back into the frame once the resin is dry. Burnish the tape firmly with your fingers or a scraper to seal any gaps and prevent resin from leaking underneath. Finally, clean your glass thorough...

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Floating Frame Snowman ⛄️

christmas snowman winter Oct 21, 2025

If you love snowmen and sparkly seasonal art, you're going to melt over this one! This mixed media snowman project is made on a floating glass frame and layered with cut glass, resin, beads, and a customizable background. The best part? You can swap out the background for different seasons! Whether you're a glass art beginner or a seasoned resin pro, this tutorial is packed with creative inspiration!

Step 1: Prep Your Frame

Begin by disassembling the floating frame and carefully removing the two glass panels. Choose one panel as the base for your art and clean it thoroughly to remove dust or fingerprints. Use painter’s tape to mask off about ¼ inch around all four edges. This will help keep your design centered and ensure it fits back inside the frame later without resin or embellishments getting in the way.

Step 2: Cut and Arrange Your Snowman

Using wheeled nippers, cut two circles from white sheet glass - one for the body and a slightly smaller one for the head. Hone the edge...

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Pink & Teal Pumpkin 💕

fall pumpkin Oct 14, 2025

This isn't your typical fall pumpkin - this one's pink, sparkly, and packed with personality! In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to add shading and highlights using directional light, master wet-on-wet blending, and finish your piece with glass, seed beads, and glossy resin. We even topped it off with a little gold pen detail and green vitrigraph for extra flair!

Understanding Highlights & Shadows

Before we ever touched the paint, we walked through a basic but important concept: light source and directional shading. To add dimension to a flat shape, like a circle or pumpkin, you need to decide where your light is coming from. We placed a sketch of a sun on the top left of our canvas to guide us throughout the painting process. This way, each pumpkin section could be shaded and highlighted appropriately based on where the "sunlight" would hit.

Step 1: Sketching the Pink Pumpkin

Using a pencil, we loosely sketched a squatty pumpkin with a curly stem and marked out individual pumpki...

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Animal Print Pumpkin 😍

animal print fall pumpkin Oct 08, 2025

This project turns a little 8×8 canvas into a dimensional, glam pumpkin using modeling paste, animal-print foil, and a thin resin coat. We’ll sculpt the pumpkin, paint it black so the foil pops, burnish on a cheetah pattern, add a gold stem, and finish with clear glass accents.

Step 1: Tone the background

Brush a thin coat of white over the entire canvas to reduce the “grab” of raw fabric. While it’s still a little damp, scrub slate gray along the lower third and fade it upward so the tone softens as it rises. Wipe the brush clean and touch a hint of gray higher up to keep the field from looking flat, then dry the surface thoroughly with a quick blast of a hair dryer.

Step 2: Lightly sketch the pumpkin

Make a small tick mark about an inch and a half down from the top edge to reserve breathing room for the stem. Sketch a big oval—the “zero”—for the pumpkin body, then add two gentle parentheses that curve down and back up into the base so your form reads as three fat ribs. Add a si...

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Midnight Pumpkin 🎃

fall pumpkin Oct 01, 2025

We’re back with a cozy fall favorite - an orange pumpkin with a rustic green-and-brown stem on a dramatic dark background. This is an “oldie but goodie” project that originally featured a black backdrop, but today we’re switching it up with a rich navy (Payne’s gray). The result? A bold, dimensional pumpkin with highlights, shadows, glass sparkle, and a glossy resin finish.

Step 1: Trace the Pumpkin

Secure your tracer to the canvas, tucking it slightly to the left so the pumpkin shape runs off the edge for a more natural look. Place graphite paper underneath and use a stylus or a pencil to trace the outline, including the stem. Leave the stem point simple for now - you’ll extend and detail it after painting the background.

Step 2: Base Coat the Pumpkin

Load your angled brush with Burnt Orange and paint one section at a time, following the tracer lines. Think of it like coloring in a coloring book - this is just your “ground coat” to block in color before adding shadows and highli...

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How to Cut a Vase for Curved Glass Pumpkin Embellishments ✨

fall pumpkin Sep 24, 2025

Turn broken vases into beautiful pumpkin embellishments! In this tutorial, you'll learn how to cut curved glass pieces perfect for fall mixed media art, glass projects, or seasonal decor. We'll walk you through each step, from scoring and tapping the glass to safely honing and arranging it in your design. No need for fancy equipment - just a few basic tools, some safety gear, and a little patience.

Step 1: Prep Your Workspace and Safety Gear

Before you begin cutting any glass, set up a safe work area. Use a glass-cutting grid or tray to catch shards and wear cut-resistant gloves, safety goggles, and a mask to protect yourself from glass dust. Gather your tools: scoring tool, breaking pliers, wheeled nippers, and a honing stone. Have a paper towel nearby to clean off glass dust.

If you have a broken vase (or one you don’t mind repurposing), use it! In this case, I used a large thick vase that cracked in half. To make it manageable, gently tap the large piece with a hammer to break ...

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Textured Pumpkin 🎃

fall pumpkin Sep 24, 2025

Want that vintage, chippy, “found-it-at-a-fall-market” pumpkin vibe? This tutorial walks you through building a rich, textured background with modeling paste, freehand-painting a pumpkin in minutes, then finishing with an antiquing glaze that sinks into every groove. I’ll also show you quick options for adding a sculpted stem.

Step 1: Build the Textured Background

Load the back of your palette knife with modeling paste. Start in the middle and pull outward, leaving purposeful “skips” and bare spots. If you need more texture, lightly “slap” the surface with the knife to create peaks, then skim your knife very lightly to soften sharp ridges. Air-dry completely. It should feel cool but firm - no soft spots.

Step 2: Paint the Pumpkin

To freehand your pumpkin, think of one egg shape in the center with two parentheses on each side. Use Spiced Pumpkin paint with a round or liner brush to draw the oval center lobe, then add a curved shape on the right and left for the side lobes. Fill...

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Creative Pumpkin Stem Ideas 🎃

fall halloween pumpkin Sep 10, 2025

When you’re working on your pumpkin fall art projects, the stem can really make or break the look. Sure, you could paint one on, but why not take it up a notch with something more dimensional? Today I’m sharing seven creative ways to make pumpkin stems using everything from glass to clay to everyday materials you already have around the house.

Option 1: Scrap Glass from a Glass Blower

One of my favorite options is to use real glass stems. If you’re lucky enough to live near a glass blower, ask if they have scraps you can buy (or sometimes they’ll even give them away). These chunky, swirled pieces are full of character and resin beautifully onto your canvas pumpkin.

Option 2: Chubbies from JL Glass

Another fantastic option is “Chubbies” from JL Glass. These come in greens, amber, and even blue, and they’re perfect for whimsical pumpkins. You can find them on JL Glass’s Etsy shop or website. Pair them with a cut piece of glass “leaf” and you’ve got yourself a

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