Brrr. This week has been frigidly frozen, frighteningly frosty, and altogether glacial in the most foreboding fashion. It was a perfect week to spend some serious quality time indoors (again, don’t judge me!). So, in response to my quality time watching ice accumulate on my car, I thought on the beauty of sun-catchers.
Stained glass, the rich and/or religious man’s sun-catcher, is old enough to have lost its origin in time. Theophilus, a monk from around 1100 A.D. described the process of stained glass construction in written form. However, the technique for glass inlays has been proven to have been present at least since Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III. His three foreign wives were buried with numerous glass-encrusted items. It wasn't until their later relations, the Romans, managed to discover silica that the world saw the first clear glass sheets.
Moving forward in time, the Gothic age through to the Renaissance changed stained glass, craftsmen learning to paint on the glass instead of rely solely on the metal pieces to link details together. Towards the end of this period stained glass became fashionable in residences as well as Cathedrals. When the 18th century arrived, the art form was considered passé and removed from many churches and homes. It wasn’t until the 19th century when interest in the art medium returned when historians discovered caches of windows and books on the techniques in England.
John LaFarge and Louis Comfort Tiffany were two American artists who took to the medium, patenting various techniques for achieving detail work without painting the glass. Since this opulent era, tastes have changed. After the two World Wars the medium of stained glass again swung towards ambience and mood-setting instead of the highly detailed images of the last of the Gothic Era and the 19th century.
Now, stained glass is rarely seen expect in churches, museums, and the occasional craft show. However, many children idle away summer hours at camp painting pre-fabricated plastic pieces various colors to bring home to dubiously delighted parents. These “Sun-Catchers” are popular amongst children, caretakers, and Sunday-School teachers alike. This week’s activity is inspired by the joys of childhood painting coupled with modern movements of abstractionism and recycling.
My melted-plastic sun-catcher is actually made of several shredded Compact Discs. We all get them, the useless “free trials” and various other gimmicky advertisements that arrive in the mail in alluring CD format. What does one do with the silly things? If we throw them out, they land in a landfill for the next several thousand years to be discovered by some future archeologist. (“Hmm, I think this must have been for some bizarre religious rite…”) Only one out of every five is recyclable, and they are really not something you want cluttering your coffee table. By shredding 10 of these gorgeous-reflective-rainbow-flattened-doughnuts, you can make a sheet of sun (and eye!) catching material.
Materials:
Oven
Baking Sheet
Aluminum Foil
10 Shredded CD’s
Directions:
1.) Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Take out your baking sheet and cover it in tinfoil. Now take out your plastic shreds and start separating the clear part from the shiny reflective undercoat. The two coats double the amount of plastic you have to use on your craft. Gently bending the strip back and forth will loosen the two.
2.) Lay your plastic pieces (all separated) onto your baking tray in any order you want them to melt into. I deliberately mixed/jumbled mine together for the project I will be doing with my sun-catcher sheet (SPOILER). However, the theory is that if you took the time to lay out the plastic in a deliberate pattern, it would melt together in that way so long as there are overlapping pieces to hold it together.
3.) Place the tray into the oven and allow the plastic pieces to melt for roughly 13 minutes. OPEN A WINDOW. I know, it’s cold, but better an ever so slightly higher heating bill than a potentially fume-filled house. My plastic never heated high enough to smell, but if you overheated it, the scent would likely be unpleasant. You may want to check on the plastic a few minutes before the time limit. Less time will be needed for thinner plastic layers, and more time for thicker plastic layers.
4.) Remove the tray from the oven and allow to cool. Oooh and Aaah over your accomplishment. When the plastic is finished cooling (give it at least 15 minutes, you impatient people!) you can remove it from the foil by peeling the foil off the back.
5.) And Voila! One gorgeous ice-inspired Sun Catcher.
Click in next week for a project you can complete using a few sheets of your newly recycled plastic. Also, next week begins the two-week countdown to Valentine’s Day, so I have a few thematic surprises planned. Until then, stay crafty!
(Spoilers):
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