Stunning “Glass” Sculpture

The neat thing about this beautiful “glass” sculpture is that it is flexible and can be re-shaped again and again! Emily was so proud of her sculpture, and they are simple and frugal to make using materials you probably already have on-hand.

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I used wired cutters to cut a long piece of thin gauge wire, and bent it into a hoop shape, then laid it on top of a sheet of clear self-adhesive paper with the sticky side facing up.

Emily spent a long time sprinkling bits of bright colored tissue paper scraps on top — so colorful!

She didn’t need any encouragement from me to cover the entire circle!

When she was done with that, I trimmed about a 2 inch border around the wire, and made slits every 3 inches or so to wrap the contact paper around the wire as shown.

Arrange your sculpture any way you like!! Like most sculpture projects, this is a fun hands-on way for kids to learn about form and balance.

They look even prettier with a flashlight shining through!

Try re-shaping your sculpture to make different works of art over and over!

Added bonus — very little clean-up!

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Have fun!!

I linked this post to:

Frugal Fridays @ Life As Mom
Weekend Wrap Up @ Tatertots and Jello
Made by You Mondays @ Skip to My Lou
Get Your Craft On @ Today’s Creative Blog

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Comments

  1. I’ve used tissue paper and clear contact paper to make suncatchers, but never seen using the wire and creating a sculpture. What a cool idea!

  2. Very cool!

  3. Great idea but can I ask did you put more contact on the back or is that side still sticky?

    • Since Emily covered almost the entire thing with tissue paper, I didn’t need to use contact paper on the other side. If it’s still too sticky, you can always use more on the back. Hope this helps! They are super-fun to make!

  4. This is such an original idea – I love it, and I think we will try it for one of our weekend craft times.

  5. Great idea!!! Thanks for sharing! Did you put a piece of contact paper over the top so that there wasn’t any “sticky” left? http://www.icanteachmychild.com

  6. Oops…I didn’t read the other comments. YOu already answered my question. πŸ™‚

    • No problem! The important thing is to wrap the contact paper around the wire, not just sandwich it in-between, or the wire will poke out when you try to re-shape it. Depending on how much tissue paper is used, you can get away without having to add a backing. Hope this helps! They are a lot of fun!!

  7. I was going to ask the same thing as Deanne, but I see that you already answered the question. Very cool idea! Love it!

    Tricia

    P.S. Thanks for your kind comment on my last post.

    • You’re very welcome, Tricia. I hope you are feeling a bit better. I’ve been thinking of you and keeping your friends in my prayers.

  8. what a lovely idea, thanks for sharing..
    πŸ™‚ Christina

  9. That. Is. Cool! I love it:)

  10. LOVE the color, LOVE the freedom for the kids to go wild, LOVE the price to make it. Thanks. We can’t wait to do this one.

    • Yay!! That makes me very happy!! Would love to see how they turn out — it was a big hit at our house. After Emily made this one, she made another one just for Clara to play around with. So cute!

  11. I’ll be linking!

  12. Salaam ya’ll. I love your ideas using contact paper. My daughter (2) loves to work with glue sticks but it’s kinda nerve wracking. This is a much better idea. I need to run out and get some tomorrow. We have heaps of tissue scraps from the Ramadhan flowers we made earlier in the week.

    Thanks for the great tips!

    • Clear contact paper really comes in handy for arts & crafts. It’s perfect for no-mess projects! Have fun!!

  13. gorgeous! I can imagine that cellophane would look stunning as well. Thank you for sharing – I will be definitely saving this one for inspiration πŸ™‚

    • I first tried this using cellophane, but it didn’t work nearly as well. I think the clear contact paper holds up to the shaping/re-shaping much better. Have fun with it, and thanks so much for stopping by!! xoxo

  14. Very fun!

  15. Oh, how clever and wonderful! I love it!

  16. Oh this would be too much fun for words. Now where is my contact paper?

  17. oo this turned out super cute! I have the hardest time finding contact paper!! Any tips?

    • Hi Lindsay! I can almost always find it at both Target and K-Mart. It’s usually with the shelf liner. One roll will last quite awhile! πŸ™‚

  18. This is a really neat idea that I will have to try with the kids! I have to say, thanks, you have been a huge inspiration, and I have shared your blog with many! We use some of your ideas in the local mom’s group that I run.

    • That is FANTASTIC!! I’m a former Activities Coordinator for my local mom’s club, so I know how difficult it can be to find things for the kiddos to do that don’t cost a lot of money. I’m so glad you found our little bloggy-blog! πŸ™‚

  19. so creative I love it. I’ll have to remember this my boys would luv this. Super cute

  20. Cool idea!

  21. This is lovely, I really like sculptability of it, too =)

  22. Love this! We have been trying to keep busy inside to escape the heat, this will be a fun craft today and the best thing is I already have everything! Found your blog this morning, love all your ideas. Thank you!

  23. That is so pretty. We have done a lot with contact paper and tissue paper, but this is just amazing!

    • Thanks Christy! The wire really adds a whole other dimension to this project — it’s a lot of fun! I want to make one too!!

  24. That came out great!

  25. OoooOOo, Totally stunning! Thanks Valerie!

  26. That is just gorgeous! How fun, simple and stunning! I found you through oneprettything and can’t wait to try this!

    -Kara
    http://littlelearnerslounge.blogspot.com/

    • Yay!!! Welcome to FFFB — I’m so glad you found our little blog! We are big fans of One Pretty Thing too!! πŸ™‚

  27. Thanks for the idea! I used it with my children and blogged about it, with a link to you, here:
    http://created2bcreative.blogspot.com/2010/08/one-crafty-crew.html

  28. beautiful , i will be doing it with my 2 and 4 years old tomorrow . thank you for sharing

  29. Genius!!! Love it as always Valerie. : )

  30. i love this! will be on the lookout for wire and tissue paper around these parts so we can do this!

  31. I love this! It’s absolutely beautiful!

  32. You’re so creative. … I’m sure you already know that, but I had to convey my amazement :)) Great idea! Thanks. .. and thanks for making it easy!

  33. This is a great idea! LOVE contact paper!!

    Jamie
    http://handsonhouse.blogspot.com

  34. I love the idea! I have a question though…do you attach the two ends of the wire–wrap it around each other or leave the circle open ended?

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