Easy Window Clings Kid's Craft
Window clings were one of Evan's favourite crafts when he was little. I first published this post way back in 2011. He was 4 years old. It is hard to believe that he will be eleven at the end of this month. So many things have changed but he is still my smart, funny little boy.
Making crafts together is a fun way to keep your kids busy, teach them things and have fun. Evan and I hope you enjoy this craft as much as we did!
Evan loves watching Artzooka on CBC Kids. His favorite part is the movies starring paper bag. He also loves watching all the different easy kid's crafts that Jeremie (the host) makes. Yesterday, Jeremie made window clings and Evan thought that was the coolest craft ever. So today we figured we would give it a try for ourselves. It turned out AWESOME so I thought I would share it with you.
Easy Window Clings Craft
You will need:
A clear plastic sheet protector
White craft glue (like Elmer's)
Liquid food coloring
Liquid dish detergent
small paint brush
Either draw a picture and put it inside the plastic sheet protector or wing it (like we did). Mix a couple of tablespoons of glue (eyeball it) with food coloring and a couple of drops of dish detergent until you get the color you like.
Paint on the sheet protector to make your picture. Make sure to paint really thick because you want it to be sturdy when you peel it off later. Make sure that different colors touch one another to make one solid painted piece. Set aside to dry.
When the window clings are dry, carefully peel the window cling off the sheet protector and then stick it to a window. You can then peel it off and restick it to another glass surface as much as you want.
I think we're going to do this again soon to make some homemade Halloween decorations. Oh, one other hint....we made the paint yellow, painted the petals and then added blue food coloring to make the paint green. This saved on glue and dishes to wash. Since the glue is water soluble, just run hot water in the dish you use and clean up is a snap.
Looking for more fun activities to do with kids? Check out these posts!
Fun Outdoor Kids Games for Summer
Inexpensive Summer Fun at Home for Kids
Great idea! Thanks!
that is such a great idea can't wait to try it.thanks!!! wonderful job evan 🙂 oh and Mum too
How much fun is that! Thanks for sharing!
Boy, is this ever easy! Thanks for sharing, and best part about this one is that it can be used for any holiday or party.
Hi,
I clicked through and found your site from Pinterest. Thanks for sharing! I think we will try some Easter Eggs and spring flowers with your easy neat idea!
Happy Blogging,
Gi
This is an awesome craft! Thank you for posting 🙂 What is the glue/detergent ratio?
Hmmm...I would say 1 drop detergent per tablespoon glue.
thank you!!
You can also do this with partially-used bottles of glue (I teach Kindergarten, so by Spring time we always have a few of those :)) and just add the food coloring and soap into the glue bottle and shake it up well (I usually do a shake one day, let it sit overnight, then re-shake and use them the next day to get the color all the way to the bottom). Then the kids can apply it straight out of the glue bottle which reduces mess to clean up afterwards 🙂
One tip, make sure you leave them to dry somewhere perfectly flat - we learned that one the hard way, lol 🙂
Thanks for the tips! It does sound WAY less messy to use the glue bottles...why didn't I think of that! 🙂
Merry - thank you so much! I just tried this with my kids and made clings for the 4th of July and it worked out perfectly. The glue bottle tip was fantastic from ACsMama - that was so easy. I featured you on my blog. Thanks for the fun project idea! 🙂
http://thepolkadottedturtle.com/make-your-own-window-clings/
I am so glad you liked this craft. We need to make some again soon & I will definitely use the glue bottle tip!
What a cool craft! Easy enough that I may even attempt it. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
You're welcome! Evan wants to make some Christmas ones tomorrow.
Thank you so much for this idea. I do activities at a nursing home and try to find idea's all the time for the Elders here that are fun and easy to do. Plus with supplies we normally have on hand just like at home. found one with wax paper and that did not work out at all! I'm going to try this today. Will let you know how it works for them too.
This is one of the most creative uses for page protectors I have seen. I included a link to it in my article of all the different things you can do with page protectors (http://wondermomwannabe.com/page-protectors-the-secret-to-an-organized-life/). Thank you for sharing this great craft idea!
Can I just use paint instead of food coloring ? Do I have to use a sheep protector or can I use Saran Wrap? Thanks
I think paint might change the consistency of the mixture and cause it not to work. You can try it though. Personally, I would try wax paper before Saran wrap because both the sheet protector and wax paper are thicker. The saran wrap might turn in to a mess unless you taped it down securely first.
powder paint might work ok but I dont think the liquid will work well, if you try it let me know. you can put the pictures inside a ziploc bag.
We had fun with this! We had a great idea that works well with the sheet protectors: use a coloring book page as a pattern for your art. You can create any images you want even if you struggle artistically, just slide it into the sheet protector. Your pattern won't move and you can make several of the same image with different colors.
This looks like a wonderful craft idea. Out of curiosity, how do these stand up to direct sunlight? I would like to give this a try, but I'm afraid they might fall off in hot weather...
They stuck great for us for quite a while. I think they would do fine.
This looks like a great idea! I'm curious, why add the detergent? Will it work with just the glue and food coloring?
I've never tried it without. I think it gives them a little more flexibility. You could definitely try it though.
You can do it with just the glue but they tear really easily that way and, for some reason, aren't quite as clingy. I think, perhaps, the detergent prevents the glue from fully setting.
I love this idea, however every time I try it the cling ends up paper thing and will not stick to the window. Any suggestions on what I could try differently? I tried adding more glue but when I do it spreads past my attended design. Thank you for the help.
Try making the layer of glue quite thick. It takes longer to dry but it should work better.
My daughter and I have been trying these. They turn out great, but they don't stick to the window. What am I missing? I've tried less dish soap, more dish soap nothing works. Any ideas of what's wrong?
I'm not sure. We had no problems with ours sticking. 🙁
Ours stuck great the first time, but when we moved to another window, it wouldn't re-stick ! I wonder if it's the temp of the windows or they are just not meant to be repositioned...any thoughts??
One side of ours didn't stick but the other side did.
I found this site because I was searching for replacement glue recipes for a Klutz Window Art kit. The kit provides a book of images, the page protector and the assorted mini bottles of glue. What I learned from it is that the images look better when you use black glue to outline each section, much like a stained glass effect. It also helps reduce any bleed between sections, I think. Thanks for the recipe!
I have a few little tips that can help or add to these... First, if they won't stick, make sure there is no grease on the window, then spray it (or better yet, the surface of the cling) with a fine mist of warm water. It just helps to create a seal on the window, but on the cling, it will ever so slightly soften the surface again, helping the glue to be more sticky. They don't tend to like being added to cold windows but removing them from a window at extreme temperatures is even worse. If they get too cold, they can become brittle, too warm and they stretch and distort.
My other tip is a more fun based one. Keep a handful of flat back gems, googly eyes, glitter, anything like that, near your glue. Press them gently onto your design when you have finished, the glue will hold them in place but if you decide to get rid of the cling after using it, you can just peel them out. Perfect if you want to make a row of gingerbread men to decorate the kitchen for Christmas. You can even use traditional cake stuff (hundreds and thousands, those silver ball things that always break your teeth...) by pressing it into wet shapes, or use markers to add details once they are dry. (Somebody mentioned black lines, it does make the shape look crisper, but just draw it on afterwards with a Sharpie!)
You can keep kids quiet for quite a while if you tell them the best Gingerbread house wins a prize (a real gingerbread man, naturally) .
The food colouring element is nothing to worry about, formula wise. It doesn't matter if you use gel, liquid or none at all. While the gingerbread idea is fun too, my favourite make is snowflakes. You can mix some glitter in with the formula, but that does tend to make it very thick. The best method is to sprinkle the finished shape with glitter. If you only use a little, you can go over the design a few times, sprinkling in between each layer of glue, and a little on top. The result is a very three dimensional effect and catches the light beautifully. You can use silver or gold glitter, especially using holographic, or pearlescent white, looks very pretty, but the clear, iridescent glitter works best. Your snowflakes act like little rainbow catchers and sparkle even when the light is behind them.
Hope the tips for sticking help, and you enjoy the other ideas.
Your tips were really helpful, Lynzi -- thank you!