A Stained Glass Surprise

Over the past two months that I’ve been working on these pieces, I’ve had to be discreet about what I shared, since my client commissioned them as a surprise holiday gift for his wife. It was such a fun project to create because I used her artwork as inspiration for the stained glass design. You can see her painting, my sketches, a few installation photos, and the SWEETEST video of the unveiling on my Instagram.

The tricky part of this project was that the panels were being installed in the front door of their 100+ year-old home—and because we were keeping everything a surprise, I wasn’t able to remove the molding strips holding the original glass in place to get an accurate measurement. To solve this, I designed the windows with internal framing and added an extra width of clear glass around the perimeter. This allowed them to be trimmed down once the molding was removed and we could see the exact size needed.

As it turned out, the pieces were about an inch too large—which was perfect! While my clients were out of town, my husband and I arrived for the installation. Once we confirmed the final dimensions, I took the panels back to my shop to cut them down while my husband continued removing the old glass and prepping the doors for installation. It worked beautifully—though I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a bit stressful.

After everything was installed, I covered the windows with wrapping paper so my client could do a full reveal with their children once everyone arrived home. What a joy it was to help create such a thoughtful surprise. It’s always a delight to make pieces I know will be deeply enjoyed, and adding the extra layer of her artwork as inspiration—along with the surprise reveal!—made this project especially meaningful.