DIY: "Stain" Glass Block Windows

My master bathroom has a huge glass block window.  While it is pretty, it is kind of...well...boring.  It needed to be made more fabulous.  I was sifting through the million and fifty ideas for tinting mason jars the perfect shade when it hit me like a ton of bricks....I could probably tint the glass block window!  I immediately sorted through page after page trying to decide what recipe I would use.  I initially settled on one that used modge podge, water, and food coloring.....yeah.....WAY too thin for vertical use.  It ended up just all running down the front of the block and not sticking very well.  Back to the drawing board.  Not to be defeated by something that should be so simple, I tried again.  This is what I came up with....

Here's what you need:

White Elmer's School Glue (yeah for real)
Food Coloring (for the color pictured I used 6-7 drops of red to 2 drops of blue)
Paintbrush
Small Bowl
Tape

Directions:

Now that you have what you need, let's get started.
Begin by putting a good healthy squeeze of glue into your small bowl...no measuring required

Now add your food coloring to reach the desired color.  I chose a burgundy color created by adding 6-7 drops of red and 2 drops of blue.
Mix it Well.

It's going to look a little bit light and swirly.  This is because it is mixing with the glue...it will dry your intended color and smooth.

Now we will take our mixture, paintbrush, and tape to the area we will be working in.

Tape off the square of the window you want to paint.

Begin applying the glue mixture in long, even strokes.  You will want to make sure that you do this in a coat thin enough that it won't run....otherwise you will be dripping all over the place.  It will look streaky at first, but the streaks should go almost totally away as it dries.

Once you have finished, let the area dry for quite some time.  DO NOT try to use a hair dryer or any other drying method.  This will create nasty little bubbles all over the finish.

This shows the color difference between applying one coat and applying two coats.  As you see, I got a little heavy handed with my second coat and have some drips.

That is ok, because as long as I haven't broken my own rule and used a hair dryer, I can simply take out the glass cleaner or warm soapy water and take this right off.

I plan to go ahead and paint the rest of the window blocks soon.  I am not doing them all red.  I am going to do some red, some green, some brown, maybe a yellow here or there and a couple left clear.  I'll post another pic when I am finished with the entire window.

Did you try this project?  Post a pic or tell me about it.  Have a different idea on how to do this, please share!  Can't wait to post again soon!