On frosty days, stunning ice patterns appear on the windows in the form of extraordinary stars, fancy curls, fabulous trees and flowers. In order for ice gardens to bloom on the windows, it is necessary that the air in the room be humid and the temperature outside the window be below zero.

Why do frosty patterns appear on the window?

Everyone remembers the parable that Santa Claus draws frosty patterns on the window. He quietly creeps up to the window at night and paints unique frosty pictures on it with a thin icy brush. In fact, everything is much more prosaic. If the air in the room is humid, and the temperature outside is zero degrees Celsius or lower, then excess moisture condenses on the cold surface of the glass. Here the water vapor cools and changes from a vapor to a solid state, forming thin crystals.

How ice crystals form

Any glass that looks perfect has microscopic nicks and scratches. The moisture that settles on the surface of the glass crystallizes first of all on these tiny defects, and only then more and more cling to the first crystals, forming patterns. Sometimes, for the appearance of icy patterns, all it takes is dust particles that litter the surface of the glass, or stains that remain after washing the windows. Drafts and air currents also contribute to the appearance of patterns. According to the method of formation, frost patterns are divided into two types: dendrites - branchy patterns that resemble trees, and trichites, which are more like stars.

Tree-like dendrites

Dendrites form at the bottom of the glass, where the water layer is thicker. Here wide trunks of frosty patterns appear, on which thinner branches gradually grow. The dendrites in the lower part of the glass are wide and thick, and in the upper part they are narrower and thinner. This frosty pattern resembles the thicket of an impenetrable fairytale forest.

Trichite star patterns

If there are a lot of nicks, dust particles and scratches on the glass, then trichites appear on it - frosty patterns that look like stars. First, the epicenter of the pattern - a speck of dust or a jagged - freezes, and then other crystals join it, like rays. As a result, frosty patterns look like a cluster of snowflakes or. When the temperature outside the window drops, trichites form dense ice fibers.

When patterns don't appear on windows

If the air humidity in the room is low and the window has good thermal insulation, then condensation does not form on the glass and frosty patterns do not appear. That is why ice paintings, so familiar to residents of houses with old wooden windows, do not spoil residents of apartments with high-quality plastic windows.

Winter has come to our lands with a light, crackling tread. She wrapped all the parks, streets, boulevards and houses in a white fluffy blanket. And now the pre-holiday frosty days, flashing one after another, tirelessly bring us closer to the most anticipated event - the New 2018 Year of the Yellow Earth Dog. Deep down, I really want everything to work out perfectly: the most important guests arrive on time, the gifts turn out to be successful, the treats are amazingly tasty, and the mood is cheerful and fabulous. It seems that during this period, even the shimmering patterns, painstakingly drawn by nature’s “frosty” brush on the window glass, should be not just marvelous, but truly magical. It’s a pity, winter doesn’t always bring joy with snowfall before the New Year, let alone snow-white filigree on glass. Therefore, on the last weekends of the outgoing year, you should not waste your time. It’s better to create amazing drawings on the windows yourself for the New Year 2018 by preparing toothpaste, brushes and paints, stencils and templates. Using step-by-step master classes with photos and videos, you can organize a small miracle on the New Year's window in your own home, at school or in the kindergarten of your favorite fidget.

How to draw frosty patterns and fairy-tale designs on the window for the New Year 2018 of the Dog

The tradition of decorating windows for seasonal holidays dates back to ancient times. Then the Celtic peoples decorated shutters and window openings with spruce branches to drive away evil and evil spirits. Later, the Chinese continued the custom, decorating doors and glass for winter holidays with ringing objects - bells, coins, bells. And only during the reign of Peter I, the New Year's ritual of applying thematic drawings to windows appeared on the territory of Russia.

Years passed by decades, following the period of the Soviet Union, today's modernity came, New Year's traditions changed but remained revered by every family. Our grandparents decorated the windows of their houses and schools with paper snowflakes, our mothers and fathers decorated the glass with cotton balls, and we painted them with glue or gouache paints. It's time to teach your own kids how to draw frosty patterns and fairy-tale drawings on the window for the New Year 2018. DIY dogs at home, at school, in kindergarten.

The easiest ways to paint a New Year's window with your own hands

Fabulous drawings and frosty patterns on the windows will fill the house with an indescribable atmosphere on the eve of the New 2018 Year of the Dog. Professional artists, using ordinary paints, can create real masterpieces on glass. And for simple lovers of beautiful scenery and creative pastime, simpler thematic plots can be used:

  • snowflakes and frosty patterns;
  • Father Frost, Snow Maiden, Snowman;
  • elegant Christmas tree and Christmas tree decorations;
  • New Year's garlands, fireworks, serpentine;
  • a sleigh with gifts pulled by reindeer;
  • Christmas angels;
  • fairy-tale and cartoon characters;
  • animals in winter scenes;
  • one-component designs (candle, bells, Santa's boots, gift box, etc.).

Any of these holiday illustrations come in snowy white, solid colors, or multicolored designs. To decorate them, you can use additional elements: glitter, tinsel, beads, paper parts. And if fine art is clearly not your talent, use homemade or ready-made templates and stencils. With their help, you will be able to use more interesting techniques in decorating the New Year's window:

  1. Pasting glass with paper protrusions on fairy-tale motifs;
  2. Transferring small monochromatic designs through a stencil using white paint or artificial snow from a balloon;
  3. Applying “frosty patterns” with a small soap with a sharp end;
  4. Independent painting of window glass with gouache or stained glass paints;
  5. Artistic decoration of glass with splashes or strokes of toothpaste;
  6. Painting windows for the New Year with large scenes or panoramas by applying an even layer of toothpaste and gradually erasing and scraping out the necessary details;
  7. Painting with hot silicone and sprinkling patterns with small sparkles.

What to draw on the windows for the New Year in kindergarten: choosing a plot

A unique plot on the New Year's window is a good old tradition, known to every adult and teenager. After all, all you have to do is touch the frosty glass with the edge of your brush, add a couple of bright festive touches - and the room will become much more comfortable and warmer. It is not surprising that even children in kindergarten are taught what they can draw on the windows for the New Year and how to choose a simple but interesting plot option “according to the years.”

But there are some nuances here too. For children 3-5 years old, just give brushes in their hands and they will immediately want to “walk around” on glass, window frames, adjacent walls, and even on carpets - what have you. Therefore, it is better to offer the younger age category a liquid soap solution and ready-made protruding templates for gluing - a more simplified, but no less interesting option for decorating windows.

New Year's options for interesting drawings using templates for decorating window glass for the New Year 2018 in kindergarten

What to draw on the windows for the New Year 2018 in kindergarten: choosing a plot is not an easy question, so many teachers prefer to buy ready-made stickers in the store. Should you take the easiest route? It is important for children 3-6 years old to develop fantasy, imagination, fine motor skills and perseverance, so we recommend making protrusions for covering windows yourself using templates from the Internet. Ready-made New Year's windows in a kindergarten will look fabulous and childishly naive.

What to draw on the window for New Year 2018 at school

With the approach of the New Year 2018, not only kindergarteners, but also schoolchildren are rushing to decorate the windows of their own classrooms, painting them with winter landscapes, fairy-tale scenes, funny characters or compositions of snowflakes. Boys and girls with innate talent draw sketches, contours and outlines. Amateur classmates happily paint over large details and complete small touches. If the work of the team is friendly and coordinated, the New Year's decoration of window glass with drawings will be at its best. But it happens that there is not a single master of art in the class. At this time, interesting and funny stencils will do. By attaching them to the window in the desired order and combination, you can leave an unusually beautiful picture of many details and characters. What to draw on a window for New Year 2018 at school using a stencil, read on!

Beautiful stencils for creating New Year's drawings on windows at school

Plastic, paper or cardboard stencils for drawing on school windows for the New Year 2018 can be bought at the nearest stationery and souvenir store or found on thematic Internet sites. Ready-made templates will help you wonderfully decorate glass in a classroom or a glass loggia in the corridor of an educational institution. Choose the New Year's stencil you like, download the image to your PC, print it in black and white format on A4 and cut it out with thin stationery scissors. And then comes the most interesting creative process: apply, paint over and enjoy the result!

How to make festive paintings on windows for New Year 2018

Students are lazy people. Therefore, decorating the windows of the auditorium and the hall for them is more of a punishment than entertainment. Perhaps the reason for this is the rush before the winter session, or maybe the desire to get a good night's sleep during the hours free from studying. But the New Year is equally long-awaited and joyful for everyone: from kids to old people. And students are no exception. At least there will be at least a small part of the children who want to take a break from the daily hustle and bustle and plunge headlong into the magical pre-holiday creativity.

Most likely, boys and girls will prefer to decorate window glass in a simpler way: paste it over with snowflakes the old-fashioned way, hang it with shimmering garlands, lay out the silhouette of a Christmas tree made of tinsel, or decorate the opening with hanging balls or stars. But there will also be those who will boldly take up paints and a brush to make festive paintings on the windows for the New Year 2018.

Examples of New Year's drawings with a brush and paints on glass for high school students and students

Artists will have no problems choosing a subject for decorating a New Year's window. The glass can be painted with joke frames, New Year's symbols and even simple congratulatory inscriptions. But preparing for the process can cause a number of nuances, ignorance of which will lead to a dismal result:

  • Firstly, before applying a sketch of a design, the glass surface must be cleaned and degreased, otherwise the paint will “roll off” and lay down in an uneven layer;
  • Secondly, you should not use watercolors. Unlike finger paints for children or gouache, it is very difficult to wash off;
  • Thirdly, by adding a little PVA glue to the paint, you will be able to make the image denser and more prominent;
  • Fourthly, skilled craftsmen can create real masterpieces on glass even with ordinary cans of aerosol paint. Of course, having some experience in how to make festive paintings on windows for the New Year 2018.

What to paint on glass with stained glass paints for the New Year in the office

Employees of offices and public enterprises especially want to escape from the drabness of everyday life. Working shifts day after day and reverently counting down the days of the calendar, employees anxiously await the approaching vacations. Worst case scenario: holiday weekend. And how do you think you can cheer up a sad team if there are not just a day left until the cherished New Year, but whole weeks? Of course, the process of pre-holiday decoration of the office, hall, windows and shop windows. Find out how to create a relaxed atmosphere in the workplace and what to paint on glass with stained glass paints for the New Year in the office.

A selection of paint designs for office windows for the New Year holidays

Painting windows in a workplace (as opposed to a school or kindergarten) imposes certain restrictions and obligations. Thus, cartoon characters or carelessly sketched children's pictures cannot be depicted on the window opening of a serious office building. In this case, the best option would be a neat frosty pattern in white gouache or a creative greeting to visitors, written in calligraphic handwriting using stained glass paints.

If you have to paint cafeteria windows, a suitable image might be Santa Claus with a cup of warm tea or Santa's Reindeer with delicious cakes. In cases where a company offers promotions to clients for the New Year, they can also be mentioned or depicted with stained glass paints in a drawing on office glass. If the enterprise does not have a specialized slope, the windows of the work or sales area can be decorated with snowflakes, small Christmas trees “through a stencil,” gift boxes, bells, etc.

Gouache drawings on windows for New Year 2018: master class with photos

Before the long-awaited New Year holidays, children in kindergartens are taught to paste snowflakes and paint window panes with patterns. And, most likely, such patterns do not quite match the interior of your home. After all, progressive mothers have more refined taste, and it’s not so easy to wash away children’s creativity. But there are at least two reasons to turn a blind eye to children’s window decoration: firstly, kids get tremendous pleasure from such an amazing process; secondly, the kind Grandfather Frost will never fly past the window, colorfully painted with funny characters, cute New Year's scenes and frosty fantasy patterns. In addition, we have prepared a simple and successful master class with photos on creating a cute children's gouache drawing on windows on the eve of the New Year 2018.

Necessary materials for drawing a New Year's story in gouache on glass at home

  • stencil with a suitable image
  • gouache paints
  • stationery tape
  • paint brushes
  • office glue
  • small sparkles

Step-by-step instructions for children on painting a winter window with gouache at home


Drawings with toothpaste on windows for the New Year: examples

All parents remember how in childhood they decorated window glass with drawings made from toothpaste, inspired by snowy landscapes, the upcoming miracles of New Year's Eve and the anticipation of the most welcome guest - Santa Claus. The time has come to teach your sons and daughters this extraordinary form of fine art. Toothpaste drawings on windows for the New Year, examples of which you will see below, will fill the house with the enchanting atmosphere of a winter fairy tale and inspire children to do kind and selfless deeds. After all, Grandfather Frost is especially generous to obedient and compliant children, isn’t he...

Frosty patterns on window glass are essentially the same thing as frost that forms on the ground and on tree branches. The mechanism for the formation of frost and these patterns is the same.

If the air cools, its moisture content decreases. Frosty patterns on glass and needles of frost are formed when moist air is cooled to the freezing point of water, that is, to 0°C. At this temperature, excess moisture contained in humid air condenses on cold surfaces. In this case, the water crystallizes, that is, turns into tiny ice crystals. Thus, water contained in humid air at 0°C passes from a gaseous state to a solid (crystalline) state, bypassing the liquid phase.

Why do ice crystals form such bizarre shapes? This is due to unevenness and scratches on the surface of the glass. Ice crystals form on them first. The crystals are deposited one after another, on top of each other - and amazing, unique patterns are obtained. In addition to glass unevenness, dust particles on the glass surface and air currents also participate in the “drawing” of patterns.

Among the variety of frosty patterns, the most common are tree-like structures - they are called dendrites and fibrous forms - trichites.

Dendrites are formed if the air humidity is increased, and the cooling of the glass began at a positive temperature and continued with a further decrease in temperature. In this case, a water film first forms on the glass, which, when frozen, crystallizes in the form of dendrites. Most often, this process begins at the bottom of the glass because more water accumulates there under the influence of gravity. That is why in the lower part of window glass the dendrites are usually larger, and the higher they are, the thinner and smaller the ice “branches” are. If the glass is moistened evenly during cooling, that is, covered with a more or less even film of water, then the “branches” of dendrites are approximately equal in size over the entire surface of the glass.


If there are scratches on the glass, then a second type of pattern is formed on their sharp edges - trichites. First, narrow parallel crystalline stripes are formed. With further cooling, fibers appear, extending from the main “stem”. Most often, both the “stem” and the “fibers” extending from it are not straight, but slightly curved.


Is it possible to prevent frosty patterns from appearing on window glass in winter? Can!

We have already said that an indispensable condition for the formation of frosty patterns is an increased moisture content in the air and cold glass. If any of these factors are excluded, Santa Claus will not be able to decorate window glass with his paintings.

For example, you can reduce the air humidity near the surface of the glass, then water condensation will not occur on it. To do this, you can place a glass of concentrated sulfuric acid between the window panes - it is known that it absorbs moisture from the air well.

The second way is to prevent the glass from getting too cold. This is done by carefully insulating the outer window glass where it comes into contact with the frame.

This master class was born completely spontaneously, and the work was done literally in the evening. In general, not very complicated, but incredibly sweet, and looking at her, you want to smile and believe in a fairy tale.

Let's get started. There are not very many photographs, and the main thing here is the materials for creating frosty patterns - Maimeri body painting gel and snow-white glitter(I have Rayher, like in the photo, only completely white, without any tints of color).

Everything is clear about glitter, so I’ll tell you about the gel. This is actually a texture paste that retains its volume and when dried becomes completely transparent and glossy. It can be tinted, but it needs to be applied in a not very thick layer, no more than 3-4 mm, and it takes a very long time to dry if the layer is thick (a very thick layer may not dry out inside and remain white). But we will apply it in a very thin layer :)

So let's get started.

Master class on decoupage paintings with frosty patterns

1. We take a regular frame with glass, the backdrop turned out to be cardboard, but this is even better.

2. Print out a suitable picture on a regular office sheet of paper ( laser printer) - I have Father Frost and Snow Maiden, very sweet and kind, not funny, not comic, but just like real ones, surprisingly there are not many such pictures on the Internet...

3. We have already positioned the picture so that the position of the characters in it is like this: how can it be behind an ordinary window on the first floor of a village house, so to speak :) That is. I need to the faces were not from above, but closer to the center of the picture.

We see that in the position we need, the picture on top does not reach the border, and we need to glue it so that the difference is not particularly visible. Alternatively, you just needed to print it, placing just below on a piece of paper to glue the entire sheet.

But you can do it this way: I tore off the top edge and thinned it slightly with tape: I glued a strip of tape to the edge and pressed it firmly into the paper with my finger.


Then I simply peeled off the tape along with the excess paper.


4.Glue the picture to the cardboard backing. I didn’t even prime - why? The office sheet is quite thick, and if the image loses its brightness, it will be only slightly.
Soak the leaf in water for 5 minutes, place it on a file, and blot off excess water. Apply thick glue to the cardboard and the sheet on the reverse side, attach the file with the sheet to the cardboard and remove bubbles from the center to the edges. Everything is like with a napkin))) Laser ink (or rather, powder) is quite fragile, it’s better to work with them through a file. You can also coat the top with glue.


Cardboard can become deformed from moisture, then after drying, you can put something heavy on the cardboard so that it dries in a straight position. But we still need a slight bend :)


5. After drying We coat our picture and cardboard with varnish. Painting in the missing parts- a little sky and yellow around the flashlight. I didn’t paint particularly carefully, the main thing was that the white background and cardboard were not visible.

6. Take a little medium or any means to increase the transparency of acrylic(I have a medium for flowing effects Plaid), you can take drying retardant mixed with varnish. Add a little dark dark blue there (not ultramarine!!! I have this Navy Blue from Maimeri with a drop of black).

We can do it translucent dark black-blue paint. We take a little on a sponge and from the edges to the center we begin to make night in our picture.


Don’t forget about Santa Claus’s flashlight; we darken only what will be in the shadow, including the right half of the face of both heroes. Just imagine, they are standing in front of you, holding a flashlight slightly in front of Santa Claus and to the side of the Snow Maiden. What will be in the shadows and what will be lit by low light? It is not necessary to achieve absolute verisimilitude; part of the image will not be visible at all.


Almost finished.

7. Cover the picture matte(!) varnish if you don’t want to add anything else. I also put a little gold on the Snow Maiden's earrings.

8. Degrease the glass (I washed it with dishwashing detergent). Again, take a little medium and add a little white to it. We frost the glass from the edges to the center - use a sponge with a drop of our mixture to press it from the edge to the center. We leave the middle and just above the middle (where the faces will be) untouched. This will add opacity to us where transparency is not needed. It looks like this (I just started, as a result everything should be heavily matted at the edges, and should gradually fade away towards the center and faces):


9. Dry it. Turning the glass over and on the other side we make frosty patterns.

Let's take it gel for body painting, place it in a heap on the palette and add drop of blue and white paint, mix thoroughly. Take a bristle brush and apply test smears, wait for it to dry. Our task is to make a white-bluish-transparent mass, which, after drying, matches the color of the frosty patterns. This is difficult because the gel itself is white in its fresh state, and the colors are distorted due to this whiteness. It’s impossible to say right away what it will be like when it dries, so samples are needed. Just add paint a small drop at a time, I have in this mass blue and white about 2-3 sq. mm.


You can dry the samples with a hairdryer; they dry quickly. When the color suits you, we begin to apply to the work with short strokes, like twigs. You can take the picture and the Internet as the original. Bristle brush leaves textured strokes, you don’t need to apply a very thick layer, and you don’t need to apply a thin one either.


By the way, in some places you can simply pierce with bristles, holding the brush vertically: we don’t have patterns there, but just frost. This is how we paint the entire glass from the edges to the center - completely! We work quickly so that it does not have time to dry.

10. And now... We erase our patterns with our hands in the place where the faces and the edge of the lantern will be. There is no need to clean the glass completely - after all, when we erase frost from the glass, it remains in some places. AND immediately cover all the glass with glitter, they stick to the raw gel and harden on it. Our gel retains its texture and shines glossy, and we see exactly those branch-patterns that we drew. Everything shines differently from different viewing angles. Amazing effect!


While it dries, we work on the frame: I applied bitumen varnish to it and began to erase a little from the protruding parts. It turned out to be such an old wooden window. She applied shellac on top (according to the instructions, bitumen varnish is coated with shellac). Shellac gave a slight yellow tint, the wood became warm :) But you could simply paint it with acrylic, lightly rub it and cover it with matte varnish.

We insert glass, behind it - cardboard. The cardboard bends a little, and the picture does not adhere closely to the glass - this is good.

Knock Knock! We go to the window, wipe off the frost with our hands - and there...

Pictures can be enlarged - just click on them :)

Under normal lighting:

Or you can do this:


I’ll tell you a secret - at the back I dug the cardboard in the place of the flashlight down to the paper, put a little putty there (more at the edges of the hole, so that the degree of illumination gradually decreased), and glued a small flashlight onto the tape...

The first frosts have begun, winter will come soon and it will become even colder, but this is not a reason to be sad. After all, at this time of year you can see many beautiful creations of nature, for example, frosty patterns on window glass.

If you look closely and use a little imagination, in these patterns you can see flowers, trees, snowy plains, stars, thickets of ferns and simply beautiful curls of various shapes.

What are frost patterns made of?

The patterns on the glass consist of ice crystals and are essentially the same as the well-known frost that appears on grass and trees.

Where do frosty patterns on glass come from?

There is nothing supernatural in the process of pattern formation; it is ordinary physics. This is due to water, which, as is known, can be in three states: solid, liquid and gaseous. When the air temperature drops below zero degrees, and there is a sufficient amount of moisture in the air, it begins to condense on cooled surfaces.

Patterns are formed due to the fact that the window glass is not perfectly straight; it contains microcracks, scratches, dust particles, and also traces of touches. Around all these glass irregularities, ice crystals begin to grow and grow more intensely, the more moisture there is in the surrounding air.

How to draw frosty patterns

There are several ways to create a beautiful frosty pattern on window glass with your own hands:

  1. We need white toothpaste and brushes. Dissolve the toothpaste in water and spray the glass with a spray bottle to make it frosted. Next, dip the brush in toothpaste slightly diluted with water and, using light strokes, draw shapes on the glass that imitate real frosty patterns. If you don’t have any talent for fine arts and you can’t draw well, you can use stencils.
  2. We buy 50g at the pharmacy. magnesium and dissolve it in 100g. light beer. Using a sponge or cotton pad, apply the resulting solution onto the previously cleaned glass. Next, in order to speed up the drying process, you can blow on the glass with a hairdryer.

A selection of photos with frosty patterns on glass