Looking to do something different, something original, something that no one would ever think of doing? I had the same problem until I saw how cool it was to make your own stained glass plates. This is where you cut out the pieces that you want, heat them up, and you have yourself this absolutely beautiful stained glass plate.

(I suggest you read the entire instructable before getting started)

What you will need:

Different coloured stained glass with the same COE (Coefficient of Expansion) ratio.

Tools:

Elmer's rubber cement
Thin Sharpie
Wheel glass cutter
Glass pliers
Glass grinder
Kiln mold
Glass kiln
small cloth
Safety glasses/goggles
Rubber gloves

Step 1: Selecting a Design and Stained Glass Colours

WARNING: When handling stained glass, be very aware of the edges of the glass they can be very sharp. If you find that you have cut yourself, just make sure to have the cut cleaned and bandaged before continuing with your project.

The first step would be to finding a design that you want to make.
- Look online for designs or in stained glass books for some options.
- Be sure you have two copies of the design on paper (if you only have one, then you can use some sketching paper to sketch your second copy).
Determine all the colours of stained glass that you want to use and be sure to have enough of each colour.
- Something important to note is that any glass that you use must have the same COE (Coefficient of Expansion) ratio, otherwise the glass will crack when it is in the kiln.

Step 2: Preparing the Glass

The next step would be to cutting the stained glass into the general shape that you want the pieces to be.

With scissors, cut out your second copy of the design into the pieces.
Sketch the pieces onto the stained glass with the Sharpie, you can use the rubber cement to keep the pieces on the glass, the rubber cement makes it easy to place and remove the pieces of paper from the glass.

Step 3: Cutting and Grinding

The next step into this project would be to cut out the stained glass into the pieces that you need.

Using the wheel glass cutter, make a line of separation where you want the glass to be cut and do not make this line to curved as the glass may not separate the way you want it to.
Use glass pliers to separate the glass.
Use the glass grinder to grind the glass pieces into the shape of the design you want it to be.
Put the pieces together on your design and use the Sharpie to highlight some parts that don't properly fit your design. Grind these pieces to better fit your sketch.
Using the small cloth, make sure to clean the glass after every use on the glass grinder.

Step 4: Placing Your Project in a Kiln

The final step of this project would be to place your stained glass project into a Kiln.

Using a kiln mold, place your project onto the kiln mold so that when the glass heats up, it will turn into a liquid state and form over the mold.
Place your project into the Kiln at a high enough temperature to allow the stained glass to melt onto the mold. This process will take several hours as the Kiln heats up to high temperature and then gradually cools back down to room temperature. If you allow cool air to entering a very hot kiln this will cause the stained glass to crack, ruining your project.
Once your project has come out of the Kiln, your project is now complete and ready to showoff to your friends and family.