I have seen several people do glass block decorations, so I thought I would try my hand at them. I absolutely love using glass blocks for Christmas since you can put Christmas lights in them and when you turn them on, they sparkle! (Of course this can be done for any holiday or any reason; the applications are endless!)
For this project I used (3) 6”x8” glass blocks. (I had a difficult time finding someplace that sold glass blocks individually, luckily the Lowe’s near me carries them.) I also used a diamond drill bit (more on this later), (3) strands of 50 Christmas lights with white wire, (3) vinyl images (more on this later), felt pads (optional) and ribbon.
The first thing you will want to do is cut a hole in the bottom of each of your glass blocks. The most important part here is purchasing the correct drill bit. It needs to be a drill bit suitable for drilling glass. There are only a couple of options available at most hardware stores. Below is an image showing the first diamond drill bit that we purchased. Please note, this is not the correct drill bit! I could only find this style in a ½” diameter size which we soon discovered was too small to put a strand of Christmas lights through. So back to the hardware store we went to exchange it.
designdazzle.blogspot.com
Great job!! Loving the red with the white. My mom gave me a set they made in homemaking. She used gold vinyl - it's pretty. Thanks for the tutorial : )<br />Toni
Cat
I love how these look- what a great project!
Lisa
Those are SOOOO cute!!
Amy
Great idea! I love it!
Amy
Great idea! I love it!
Mary DuBois
Where did you buy your drill bit and size did you us ?
Ashley Phipps
Hi there! We just bought it at a hardware store. I believe we used 1"...but you just want to be sure it is big enough that you can get the lights into the glass! So you could make it smaller if you needed to I'm sure.
Lynda
Where do I get the vinyl images?
Ashley Phipps
Sadly, it looks like the shop I got them from is no longer open. I would search on etsy for something similar 🙂
Dawn G
I know...stupid question. When the hole is drilled, where the heck is the glass disk that you drilled out? Is it in the bit or the block? If it's in the block, how do you get it out? ????
Dawn G
I know...stupid question. After drilling the hole, where does the glass disk go? Is it in the bit or glass block? If in the block, how do you get it out?
Kerri
Where r u located ? I have several of these that I got free and would like to use them for a decoration at a church Christmas banquet.
I have had more negative comments on getting the holes cut in my glass blocks than positive ones. I am afraid I will ruin more glass blocks than I actually end up with that can be used. Wouldn’t be a blessing if you were close to me and could help me get started. I am in Indiana...May be a long shot but still thought it worth asking.
Ashley Phipps
Ah I really wish I could help. We just moved from Indiana this summer all the way to Washington state. 🙁 best of luck.
Katrina Gilley
Beautiful piece of work love it x
From the UK
Beverly
So using a stencil that is not vinyl is hard? Also what etching pen would you recommend?