Imitation Stain Glass

I laser cut acrylic pieces to use as the glass as well as a piece of MDF wood to use to hold the pieces and bird shape. I painted this black with acrylic paint.

I used red and brown fabric dye to color the pieces.

To dye the pieces, I put the fabric dye and a splash of acetone into a stainless steel container. To heat it up, I made a double boiler with a small pot. Once the dye mixture was heated, I dropped in the acrylic pieces.

These are the dyed acrylic pieces next to the painted MDF.

I placed the acrylic in their corresponding spot in the MDF. To hold everything in place, I sealed the entire ornament with clear nail polish gel topcoat. 

This kind of nail polish does not dry, but rather needs to be cured with a UV light. The gel also gives the ornament a sort of wavy stained glass look.

I made a similar project with Goldy the Gopher. I made this into a tile instead of an ornament

Instead of using nail gel, I used painters tape to hold the pieces in place temporarily. I first painted the opposite side with white acrylic paint. Then I layered craft glue on top of that and glued it to a piece of MDF that I already painted white.

This is final tile. It is definitely way too dark. I still haven't quite mastered dying the acrylic with a lot of color accuracy.