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The most obvious place to put up art in your home is on the walls, but don’t leave those windows neglected. A simple piece of window art can brighten up a space and give your passing neighbors something to smile at. To create window artworks without permanently giving up your view, pick up materials designed to cling to glass while still being temporary for clean removal. There are window-safe paints that dry to a solid, flexible state and adhesives that can be cut to create intricate designs. Whether you’re looking for a kid-friendly craft, seeking to spruce up a tired interior, or planning some holiday decor, our picks below will help you create an eye-catching display.
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ARTNEWS RECOMMENDS
Pebeo Arti’ Stick Window Color Sets
With Pebeo’s child-friendly product, all you need is paint and a plastic sheet to create decorative window art. Arti’ Stick is a water-based paint that dries to a sturdy film that you can safely stick on any nonporous surface. It’s easy to use straight from the 75-milliliter bottle—you don’t need brushes or water—and colors can be mixed. All you have to do is squeeze out colors onto a plastic surface (not unlike icing a cake), wait 24 hours for it to solidify to a translucent finish, and you have an artwork that is lightfast and repositionable. Kids can follow the 20 colorful cartoonlike templates included in each paint set or create something all their own. Extra templates geared for different age ranges can also be purchased separately. Pebeo offers 19 colors to work with, including glittery hues. The paint is high quality so both kids and adults can enjoy using them.
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Ooly Creatibles DIY Window Cling Art Kit
Ooly offers a comprehensive kit with everything you need to create multiple window cling artworks. You get 14 traceable designs such as an alien, a rainbow, and a hot-air balloon, as well as six bottles of paint and two reusable film sheets to use as a work surface. One paint is a 40-milliliter bottle of black for outlining, and the rest are vibrant colors in 20-mililiter bottles. The paint is a good consistency to work with, and you can outline and color in designs in the same sitting. Wait for 24 hours, and your masterpiece is ready to peel off and stick on a window.
ANOTHER OPTION
Cricut Decorative Window Cling
If you own a Cricut machine and are looking for a more adult option, we recommend picking up this window cling. It looks like and works similarly to vinyl, but because it doesn’t have an adhesive back, it doesn’t leave annoying residue should you want to remove your design. Instead, the material effectively sticks to nonporous surfaces via static cling, which allows you to reposition your art as you like. To create your artwork, load the cling in the Cricut’s cutting mat, select the appropriate settings, and wait as the machine does the cutting. Then weed it, and your design is ready to use on a window. Our one complaint about this cling is that it comes in only four colors (black, red, white, and orange) plus a frosted finish.
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Gallery Glass Instant Lead Lines
If you’re looking for an economical way to achieve the look of a stained glass window, check out these rubberized sticky strips, which are designed to resemble the lines of leaded glass. Just peel the lines from their backing and press them onto a window to create dynamic patterns or outlines. Then color in the spaces with glass paint to create beautiful stained glass effects. The lines work best if used straight, but with some practice you can bend them to create neat curves. The material is also very forgiving, so don’t worry too much about getting it right the first time. Make sure you clean your glass very well before you lay down the strips for long-lasting adhesion.
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Creativity for Kids Emoji Window Art Craft Kit
Another kid-friendly option, this all-inclusive kit features enough material to create at least 10 window clings with latex paint. Choose from six bright colors, plus black, to trace the printed designs of emojis onto the two included and reusable plastic sheets. We like that the bottles are designed so users can draw with a thin or a broad nib. This paint does take a while to dry, however. You have to first outline the designs, wait overnight, color them in, and then wait at least another day before they are ready to peel and stick. Because the paint is quite thin, we also advise adding an extra layer to prevent tearing during the peel-off process.