Tissue Paper Suncatchers
Use small pieces of colored tissue paper to create colorful stained glass-looking suncatchers. This tutorial shows two easy methods to make these lovely suncatchers.
Featured Crafts
Supplies Needed
Method 1
- Tissue paper in various colors
- Scissors
- White glue or liquid starch
- Paint brush
- Wax paper
- Double-sided tape
Method 2
- Tissue paper in various colors
- Scissors
- Clear contact paper
- Double-sided tape
STEPS
METHOD 1
Use liquid starch or slightly diluted white glue to stick the pieces of tissue together into a collage. Shapes are then cut out from the resulting collage.
1Cut small pieces of colored tissue.
Cut various colors of tissue paper into small pieces. If you are making themed suncatchers (e.g. Valentine's day, Easter, autumn, etc.), use colors of tissue paper that go with your theme. For this tutorial, I chose reds, pinks, and purples to make heart suncatchers for Valentine's day.
2Prepare wax paper.
Lay a sheet of wax paper on a flat surface.
3Place some paste.
Create paste by using either undiluted liquid starch or diluted white glue (2 parts white glue to 1 part water). Pour some paste onto a portion of the wax paper. Spread the paste into a thin layer using a paint brush.
4Lay pieces of tissue over the paste.
Place a few overlapping pieces of tissue onto the section with paste. Brush on some more paste over the pieces, smoothing them around the edges as you go.
5Lay more tissue pieces.
Continue adding tissue paper pieces until you've made a collage that almost covers the entire wax paper or until you've got a big enough collage to make the intended number of suncatchers. Allow the collage to dry completely.
6Peel off the wax paper.
If you want suncatchers that are more see-through, you can carefully peel off the tissue collage from the wax paper once completely dry.
Leaving the wax paper on is perfectly okay—the suncatchers will still catch some light, though not as much as wax paper-free ones.
7Cut shapes.
Cut shapes out of the tissue paper collage. You can cut directly or draw the shapes onto the tissue prior to cutting.
If you need shape patterns or templates, you can check out these printables:
8Use your suncatchers.
Use double-sided tape to stick the suncatchers onto glass windows or doors.
STEPS
METHOD 2
In Method 2, pieces of colored tissue are arranged in between two sheets of clear contact paper. The sheet is then cut into the desired suncatcher shapes.
1Cut small pieces of colored tissue.
Like in Method 1, cut various colors of tissue paper into small pieces.
2Cut contact paper.
Cut two identical sizes of clear contact paper.
3Remove backing from contact paper.
Remove the backing from one contact paper sheet. Position the clear contact paper sticky side-up on a flat surface. It helps to put masking tape under the four corners to keep the sheet flat and taut.
4Place some tissue paper pieces.
Stick overlapping pieces of tissue onto the contact paper.
5Fill the contact paper with tissue.
Continue sticking tissue paper pieces until you've covered the entire contact paper. It's perfectly fine to go over the edges of the contact paper.
6Place the other contact paper.
Peel off the backing from the second sheet of contact paper. Position it sticky side-down over the tissue paper collage. Press firmly to seal in the tissue paper pieces.
7Cut shapes.
Cut out shapes. You can cut directly or draw the shapes onto the contact paper prior to cutting.
If you need shape patterns or templates, you can check out these printables:
8Use your suncatchers.
As suggested in Method 1, you can use double-sided tape to stick the suncatchers onto glass windows or doors.
Another idea is to punch a hole near the top of the suncatcher and hang it with a ribbon or string.
More Ideas
Compose a design.
In Method 2, it is easy to create an ordered design. With a three-toned Easter egg in mind, I cut large sections of tissue paper in three colors and arranged them in rows on the contact paper. To decorate the Easter egg, I used craft punches to create small paper shapes and glued them onto the sections of tissue paper. Another piece of contact paper was placed on top to seal everything in.
An egg shape was cut out of the contact paper to come up with this colorful Easter egg suncatcher. Check out our Easter eggs page for printable egg templates.
