Vintage Window With Epoxy Seascape
19 Materials
$50
10 Hours
Medium
I was so excited to locate some old windows and I had numerous ideas for each of them but the first project I chose was to create a seascape. I gathered all of my sea glass, shells, sand, pebbles, beads, etc. and set them out on my table along with my old window.
Gathering Supplies
Next I marked off my window from behind into thirds to give me a start and stop guideline for the beach, ocean and sky. The other lines just helped me with placement of some highlights that I'd add to the scene.Along the front perimeter, where the wood met the glass I added painters tape as well, to prevent any silicone glue from getting onto the frame.
Painters Tape
I used silicone glue to spread over the bottom third of the glass to ensure I had a thin, even layer aIl over I spread the silicone around with an old shopping courtesy card. You'll see it below next to my gloves on the table in order to understand what I'm referring to. All of the other beach items were glued on with silicone also.
Pouring Sand onto the Silicone
I poured the sand over everything generously, patted it into the glass firmly yet carefully and then shook off the excess outdoors.
Ready to Shake off Excess Sand
I realized that the shoreline usually has white edges from the waves so that's where I glued in some cod fish ear bones! Yes, I said that correctly...they are called otholiths and my generous neighbour gave me a bag of them to use for my crafts!
Beach Close up
Onward now to the ocean where I used seaglass in ocean blues and greens. Each piece was individually glued and set in place in a mosaic style still remembering to keep it within the second third of the frame!
Gluing on a Sea Glass ocean
Heh, you can't have an ocean without a sailboat or two sailing along can you?
White Sea Glass Sailboat
These are made from pieces of China and dinnerware that I collected along the shoreline. No two pieces are alike so it takes a bit of experimenting to get the shards to resemble a sailboat.
Blue Sea Glass Sailboat
Hmm, it needs a lighthouse too I thought so I again glued everything on with the silicone. I overlapped some small pebbles for the rocky land. I used tiny red beads to form the lighthouse and delicately placed silver ones for the light rays and a glass marble for the light.
Beaded Lighthouse
I thought the red lighthouse would coincide with the little red crab in the opposite bottom corner, isn't he adorable?
Glass Crab
Here's another closeup to show you that some pieces of glass were overlapped to cover in any larger gaps.
Final look of the glass application
Now was the time to fill in the final third of the frame, the sky. I pondered how to do this for quite awhile and my final thought was to paint it on from behind. I flipped over the frame and taped along the wood edge and my ocean edge. I painted it with a small piece of sponge and white chalk paint from Folk Art. I blotted it into the paint and then a paper towel because I barely wanted any paint on it, I just tapped on some white, fluffy clouds.
Adding White Clouds
I let that dry and then mixed up some dark acrylic blue paint into my lighter Folk Art blue chalk paint until I got the desired periwinkle shade. In the same manner that I painted the white clouds I blotted the rest of the sky area with the blue. Your goal is NOT to give it complete coverage but use a light hand to still have transparency in places.
Sky Close up
Now that the last third was completed I gave it one final inspection and thought to add a door to the lighthouse. Too, I noticed spills of silicone on a few rocks that made them look wet. I thought to myself.... hmmm why not cover them all so that if they are above the pour surface they will look wet? I spread small amounts of silicone over the rocks with my gloved fingers.Getting ready for the pour, you'll need equal parts of the two part epoxy to be measured and poured together and stirred well....up to 3 minutes for this brand! Then they even suggest to pour it into another container to ensure good mixing and stir another few minutes!* Safety First with protective eyewear and gloves and a covered work area.
Prepping Epoxy Tools
To prepare your item in this case the picture frame youll need it in a dust free, warm, stable work area to ensure a good cure over the next 48- 72 hours.It is crucial that your work surface is level, I made sure of this both length wise and width wise using my level. You will want the bubble in the level to be in between those 2 center lines as seen in the picture below.
Once I had the epoxy parts mixed well and poured into all of the crevices and corners it was time to remove any air bubbles. I used a heat gun but the barbecue lighter worked fine too when I tried it out.
Popping Air Bubbles with Heat
Remember how I mentioned that I rubbed over the rocks with silicone to give them a wet look? Wellllllll......look what happened! It looks exactly as if water splashed in over the rocks, why? Because epoxy doesn't stick to silicone so just a few droplets of it hardened onto the rocks....a total FLUKE! I love it!!
Splashes on the Rocks
Now to hang the artwork I chose to use braided rope, I tied a knot in the ends and stapled the rope into the window frame.
Stapling Rope onto Window
I chose to hang it in my front entrance above my front door, you'll notice I have all of the prisms removed from my chandalier? That's an upcoming post because one creative project always leads into another!
Hanging the Frame
Here is a closeup view for you to see it's hanging onto a boat cleat.
Epoxy Seascape
I love how it turned out and I love where I have it hung, as guests leave they can see it coming down my stairway. The only problem now is I have epoxy fever, more ideas in the plans because I have lots of epoxy left yet, woo-hoo!
*Costs based upon already owning the tools and safety wear mentioned that I used for this project. Just epoxy and silicone were purchased to amount to the cost of this project for me.
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Comments
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7 of 40 comments
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I will definitely try this. If it comes out half as good I will love it. By the way where did you get the old window from? Thank you
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Would you believe it was thrown out for trash? What rubbish will people try next?😂If you dont have access to an old window try the goodwill , thrift store or yard sales for old picture frames. A little white paint and distressing will make them look just as good. Give it a whirl, you'll love it because you made it yourself!
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This is very inspiring...I would love to see a couple of finished pictures of it. I only see portions?
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Wonderful, I guess the entire post hadn't fully loaded, problem solved. Thanks Bernice.
Frequently asked questions
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This is beautiful but question is your only pouring epoxy mixture just over the ocean water parts and onto the Rocks Under the lighthouse and not over the sand or the sky
i absolutely love this. Are you an artist. At what point did you take the tape off?
I did this in a class. The epoxy was poured onto the glass first and then objects were added. What is the best epoxy to use?