Looking for a great handmade holiday gift to give your family and friends this year? Look no further — you can create simple, designer-looking custom glassware with dollar store supplies and some goodies by Martha Stewart. I’ve been experimenting with glass painting on dollar store glassware, and this is one of my favorite results: butterfly silk screened tumblers. These look professional — your family and friends will not believe you made them yourself!

The dollar store (Dollar Tree, specifically) has a great selection of glassware. I used these basic tumblers and silk screened a butterfly image on each one, using Martha Stewart glass paint and silk screens.

A note about the supplies: Let me just take a minute to say that the Martha Stewart glass paints and silk screens are premium supplies, NOT dollar store supplies, but the thing is, these high quality supplies make humble dollar store goodies look very high end. And think of all the money you will save by making a set of these designer glasses (instead of buying a comparable product at a store like Anthropologie). To me, this is the essence of dollar store crafting — making something amazing out of dollar store stuff.

Also, the silkscreens and paints will allow you to make hundreds of glasses or other projects, so the investment will pay off as you make more projects. These butterfly glasses are perfect for your handmade gifts this holiday season! You can make a set for nearly everyone on your gift list. If butterflies aren’t your style, there are many other silk screen styles to choose from.

Project Materials:

• 4 tumblers, $1 each
• Martha Stewart Glass Silk Screens, Butterfly, retail price $12.99
• Martha Stewart Glass Paint in Purple Orchid, $3.49 retail
• Martha Stewart Glass Paint in Copper, $3.49 retail
• Martha Stewart Squeegie Set, $12.99 retail

Total cost: $36.96 to get started

You need about $33 in Martha Stewart glass supplies to get started, but you will be able to make tons of projects using these. If you want to make a gift (set of 4 glasses) for five friends, the cost per glass will be less than $3 a glass.

Save Money On This Project: Use your 40% off coupon at your local craft store when buying the stencils or tools, and look for sales. This will reduce the supply cost dramatically. You can also skip the squeegies, although they make it really easy to do this project, and I don’t know how frustrating it might be to use the wrong tool for this job.

Okay, enough about the facts – let’s see how to make them!

How to Make Silk Screened Butterfly Glasses:

1. Clean your glass surface with soap and water. Thoroughly dry, and then wipe down with rubbing alcohol.

2. Apply silk screen. It is designed to cling to the glass, which helps keep it in place as you apply paint.

3. Apply a small line of paint across one side of the silkscreen.

4. Pull the squeegie slowly and firmly across the silk screen in one smooth motion.

5. If any area of the silk screen is not covered with paint, pull paint gently over that area.

6. Immediately pull the silk screen up from the glass, starting at one corner and pulling up and away from the glass.

7. Rinse the silk screen out immediately, and dry by blotting with an absorbent towel.

8. Repeat for other glasses.

9. Allow paint to dry for a couple hours, then follow instructions on paint bottle for curing.

Thanks to Paint Me Plaid for these glass silkscreening images!

These butterfly glasses would also make great wedding favors!

Disclosure: I received the Martha Stewart Glass Paints from Plaid to try. No payment was received and no obligation to post a project.