Create the Look of Stained Glass—The Easy Way with Resin & Glass Paint!
Love the look of stained glass but feel like the process is too complicated? Now you can recreate the classic stained glass look using transparent glass paint on cured resin and a ready-made template. It's a simple and fun technique that lets you focus on the best part—choosing your favorite colors, pigments, glitter, and embellishments to make it your own.
Artist Nadia Fernando, of LiaDia Designs, is a mixed media artist who creates stained glass and henna-inspired pieces. In her video tutorial, she'll walk you through creating a tropical waterfall faux stained glass.
Let’s get started!
Materials You'll Need
• 8" Embroidery Hoop: Acts as a mold
• Black Acrylic Paint: Nadia used Liquitex Basics in Mars Black
• A few small Paintbrushes
• A Clear Acetate Sheet: Serves as a base to contain the resin
• Hot Glue Gun: Secures the wood hoop to the acetate base
• ArtResin Epoxy Resin
• Gloves, Plastic Measuring Cup, and Mixing Stick
• Maker's Studio Torch: A butane torch for removing bubbles, or use a heat gun.
• Dustcover: A clean plastic tote or an empty cardboard box works well
• Laser-Cut Acrylic Template: Nadia used her Tropical Waterfall design, available on her website
• Pebeo Vitrail Transparent Glass Paint: Nadia used Fuchsia Pink, Coral Red, Apple Green, Yellow, Pale Pink, and blues including Cyan and Lagoon.
• Mica Powder: Mix with the glass paint to add shimmer
• Small Plastic Cups and Stir Sticks: For mixing custom colors
• Glitter: Nadia combined Silver and Ballet Slipper
• Shell pieces: or embellishments of your choice
Step 1: Prepare The Wood Hoop
Nadia likes to create her own frame for this stained glass art using a wooden embroidery hoop. Since her acrylic insert is 7", she selects an 8" hoop to leave room for a decorative border where she’ll add shell pieces.
First, she paints the top and inside of the hoop with Liquitex Basics Mars Black acrylic paint, leaving the sides unpainted for now. Since hot glue will be used in the next step, painting the sides too soon could cause the glue to pull the paint off. She prefers to touch up the sides as a final step.
Once the paint is dry, she places the hoop on a sheet of acetate and secures it with hot glue, creating a sturdy base for the resin. She then allows the glue to cool.
Step 2: Prepare The ArtResin
Wearing gloves, Nadia measures equal amounts of resin and hardener by volume, stirring for about 3 minutes while scraping the sides and bottom of the container to ensure a thorough mix.
She recommends preparing no more than 2 oz of ArtResin, consisting of 1 oz of resin and 1 oz of hardener - you may not even need all of this.
Next, Nadia pours a small amount of resin into the hoop, spreading it into a thin layer. Add more if needed to ensure the base is evenly covered.
You only need a thin layer to hold the acrylic insert in place—not to submerge it. It’s important to leave some space so you can fill in all the areas of the design after the resin has cured.
The next step is to use a butane torch or heat gun to carefully remove any bubbles.
After that, Nadia gently sets the laser-cut acrylic insert into the resin, making sure it’s centered and the border is even all around. A craft stick helps to adjust the insert as needed.
She covers it with a dust cover and allows the reisn to cure overnight.
Step 3: Paint Your Design
The next day, the resin will be dry to the touch—it's not quite fully hardened but cured enough for painting.
Nadia suggests you don’t remove the acetate just yet - it will release far easier once the resin has fully cured (72 hours after pouring).
Now for the fun part—adding color! Nadia is using Pebeo Vitrail, a vibrant transparent paint designed for glass but works equally well on resin.
Nadia likes the flexibility of paint, as it allows her to work slowly and pause whenever needed, unlike resin, which has a 45-minute working window. However, if you prefer, you can use tinted resin and either a paintbrush or pipette to fill in the areas.
For her lush floral and waterfall scene, Nadia has chosen a bright, tropical color palette—vibrant pinks, oranges, yellows, greens, and blues—along with mica powder and glitter for some added shimmer.
💡 TIP: Nadia recommends placing your project over a piece of white paper to help you see the colors clearly as you apply them.
Leaves
For the monstera leaves, Nadia primarily uses Apple Green, but adds a touch of Lagoon—a beautiful teal color—to create a deeper, variegated effect.
Hibiscus
For the hibiscus flowers, Nadia uses coral and fuchsia, yellow, and a pale pink mixed with mica powder for a soft shimmer.
💡 TIP: Remember, blending the colors is key to creating a beautiful, natural look, so don’t be afraid to experiment.
Water & Sky
For the waterfall, Nadia mixes cyan blue with a bit of mica powder to create a shimmering effect on the waterfall. The water in the foreground is created with different shades of blue, to add depth and dimension.
Stone
To create a look for the stones, Nadia decides on a glitter mix using a silver and pink blend which she mixes into a small amount of resin. She finds mixing the two colors tones down the intensity of each to create a stone-like color, while still adding a bit of sparkle and fun.
Nadia absolutely loves this look—it’s tropical, fun, and bursting with bright, colorful energy, plus a bit of glitter to make it pop.
Cover your piece with the dustcover to protect it while the paint dries - at least 8 hours and possibly overnight. Then you’ll be ready to move on to the top coat and the inner border to finish it off.
Step 4: Final Touches
Now it's time to apply the embellishments of your choice to the border. Nadia chose shell fragments for added texture. To attach them, use either gloss varnish or resin as an adhesive.
A silicone applicator dipped in glue make it easy to place the shell pieces precisely where you want them, and a pair of tweezers is handy to adjust pieces that are out of place.
Once the resin is fully cured, the acetate will release. If it doesn’t come off easily, don’t worry—it’s clear and leaving it won’t affect the design.
After removing the acetate, very carefully trim off any dried glue from the border using a craft knife. The glue should come off easily with light pressure.
For the final touch, paint the edges with black paint to create a clean, polished finish. Now, your piece is complete and ready to shine!
Step 5: Topcoat
Once the piece is dry, the next step is to apply a clear resin top coat, using just enough to create an even, flat surface. There’s no need to fill the entire hoop—and in fact, keeping the resin level slightly lower looks great with the frame.
Nadia prepares 3 oz of ArtResin, following the same mixing instructions from earlier. After pouring, Nadia works slowly to guide the resin into all the grooves, making sure no spots are missed. Once everything is covered, she torches out the bubbles and leaves it to cure.
And here's the final project! It turned out perfectly.
Nadia says: "I'm so happy with how this turned out. ArtResin is the perfect choice for this project because it’s designed for topcoats, display pieces, and wall art. It goes on smoothly, bubbles pop easily with a torch, and it cures to a beautiful, shiny finish."
Thanks so much for showing us your process, Nadia!
To see more of Nadia's work:
Visit her website: liadiadesigns.com
Shop Nadia's laser cut acrylic inserts
Follow her on Instagram: @liadiadesigns
ArtResin: Celebrating 10 Years As The Original Epoxy For Resin Art
