Temporary Window Paint Recipe (Paint A Cross For Easter!)

Painting a cross on your glass front doors or windows of your house for Easter has become a very fun annual tradition! I think it is a very joyful way to bring a witness and some cheer to your neighborhood, and an absolute delight for kids! I have a stained glass window paint recipe that is easy to wash off, plus step by step directions on how to do this yourself!  This is not a “Pinterest Fail” project, but something that is super easy to create. You can find all of my cross crafts for kids here. Now let’s take a look at my temporary window paint recipe to paint an Easter cross!

I wanted to add here that this seems like an extra super special idea while we can’t attend church as a way to bring a little church to us! Me and my mom worked together on experimenting with different types of paint, how they look on the windows, what to mix them with, how well they wash off, etc. And now we are going to share our findings with you! 

Recipe For Washable Window Paint

We actually did experiment with different things such as tempera paint, acrylic paint, mixing with water, etc. And here’s the deal… it really does work best when you mix the paint with dish soap!

Window Paint Recipe:

What kind of paints work for window painting?

Check on what you have at home because there are several kinds of paint that will work for this! 

Temporary Window Paint You Can Purchase

If you’d rather buy some window paint (or markers) rather than mixing your own, I would suggest you try these window markers. I always love the vibrant colors of Crayola products for kids!

As long as it’s not an actual glass paint, it will come back off of the glass. Also, we found that it was super easy to use our deviled egg plate as a paint palette. It totally washes clean when you’re finished with it!

How Easy Is The Window Paint To Wash?

This paint recipe dries completely (meaning you can touch it with your hands and it doesn’t smear like lipstick or anything, it’s totally dry) and it scrapes or washes right off when you’re done with it! It actually came off much easier than I expected. 

How To Paint Glass- Different Techniques

My mom really didn’t like the brush strokes in the paint, and although they didn’t bother me, we experimented with several different objects that may be around your home for painting the windows with. 

I want to add here that letting your kids help and be a part of this is far more important than the final result of the window painting!

Here is what the window paint looks like when blotted on with a brush…

Here is what the window paint looks like when blotted with a cotton ball…

Here is what the window paint looks like when blotted on with a balled up piece of newspaper…

And here is what the window paint looks like when swirled on with your finger…

So hopefully that can help you choose how you would like to paint on your design. We settled on paint brush blotting for our masterpiece. 

What Kind Of Tape Should I Use For Window Painting?

Painter’s tape is an obvious choice, and masking tape can work in a pinch. Washi tape will also work really well. If you’re worried that your masking tape is too sticky, you can first stick it to your clothes (like down your pants) and then stick it to the window. It will keep it from being overly sticky. But the real trick to getting the tape back off is to peel it down as soon as your paint dries. If you leave it up for days or weeks, that’s when getting it off becomes a problem. 

How To Mark Off A Painter’s Tape Cross

I have seen this basic design be successful all over social media! Start by making a basic cross shape out of your tape.

Add a border around the edge if you desire. Then you can make kind of an “X” coming out of the cross with the tape… 

Then you can fill in around the cross with rays coming out!

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Now you are ready to paint it in! Paint each section your desired color, allow the paint to dry, and then remove the tape. It’s that easy!

Here are some pictures of painting in this window cross design.

These can take on really different feels during the day, the night, from the inside, and from the outside. Check out how many different personalities this window painting takes on.

 

And check it out at night! I LOVE the shadow that it casts!

Also, here are some designs that have been sent in by all of YOU! These stained glass window designs are absolutely beautiful!

From Stacy in North Carolina

From Sandy in Illinois

You Can Also Free Style Paint On The Window!

You don’t have to mark off a geometric design with painter’s tape, if you’re feeling very creative you can just free hand whatever design you want! Check out some of these for inspiration. 

Check out this awesome organic design from Audrey in Lousiana!

I hope y’all enjoyed this easy temporary paint recipe for windows!

You can find all of my ideas for a celebrating Easter for all 50 days here. God bless and happy celebrating! 

Note: Not all of the pictures in this post were taken by me, many were submitted by readers, but every single picture that was shared had owner permission for me to share it. Thank you so much to the Catholic Icing community for being so generous with your resources in sharing your pictures and ideas with everyone. Love ya’ll!!! 

Be sure to check out all of my fun paint recipes for kids here!

Comments

  1. Lizzie Ater says

    Painting the windows or doors scares me since we will be selling our house soon, so we have been making stain glass pictures.
    I have a picture of what we did but not sure how to add it to this post.

  2. I did this on a window at our home with my daughters. We had such fun. Sadly, when I peeled off the tape (after the paint was dry) it chipped and peeled much of the paint with it. I think perhaps ours was too thin. It’s still pretty, and we will try again.
    Were you careful not to paint on the tape?

    • No, we weren’t. That’s a bummer that it took off your paint! Maybe yours dried longer than ours? Not sure.

  3. Emz Murphy says

    Love this idea!! Thank you for the paint recipe too as was struggling to think of a good way, well washable way, to do a window painting. In one of your window pics it looks like it has black lines between the colours like lead in traditional stained glass. Was that just dark tape left in place or did you paint it lines?
    Will try pop on Facebook and share a few pics of crafts from you that we did last week. Kept my older boy (7) occupied for a good couple of hours. Even the 2yr old joined in!
    Thank you again for this idea and to your mum for helping and testing getting a great paint mixture, so all us guys don’t need to experiment. God Bless you and your lovely family.

    • Correct- that’s just the tape! Although I do know families that have left up the tape to represent the authentic stained glass more, and that is pretty as well!

  4. I’ve thought about doing this on the OUTSIDE of the door. We have a covered porch, so it shouldn’t be washed off by rain. But I was thinking it might be easier to clean off if it were on the outside. What do you think?

  5. Its great to know that there are Catholics who are enthusiastic about living and passing on the faith. God bless you for encouraging and supporting others to do so!

  6. Becky Simpkins says

    I’m thinking of doing this at our church which does not have any stained glass windows. Any idea on how it will be if the paint is left on for months? Would it still be easy to remove and maybe change designs?