Stained Glass Mitten Window Decor Tutorial

With the cold, blustery weather in full-force this winter, I decided to bring some seasonal coziness into my classroom decor. Last week we made stained glass mittens to adorn the windows of my kindergarten classroom. By now you probably know of my great love affair with stained glass-style window decorations. This one is definitely my new favorite. I know I said that the last time, but now I REALLY mean it.

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For this project, each child made a pair of matching mittens. The partner mittens are displayed next to each other in my window. They look adorable in my bright kindergarten classroom  and are the perfect compliment to the Rainbow Chalkboard theme from Melanie at Schoolgirl Style.

Prepping the project was easy!  I selected a few different shades of tissue paper in five color schemes (pink, blue, green, orange, purple) and cut the tissue paper into 1″ squares. These were separated into 5 different containers according to their color. Each child also needed two mitten frames. (You can download a free template for the mittens on TpT. Just print, trace onto black construction paper and cut out along with one 9×1/2″ strip of black construction paper for each pair of mittens.)  This project also requires two sheets of 12″x18 sheets of clear contact paper per child.

(Side-note: If you don’t already know, I love clear contact paper. I use it for everything. I go through SEVERAL rolls of it each year and if you don’t already have contact paper in your classroom, I highly recommend you go on Amazon right now and purchase a few rolls. You can thank me later.)

It is easiest to set this project up while students are away from their desks. I usually prepare for the activity while my class is at a special or playing with toys on the floor. Begin by peeling the sheets of contact paper and placing one sheet sticky-side-up on each child’s desk. Next, place two frames side by side on top of the sticky paper. Cut or tear the 1/2″ strips of construction paper to create cuffs on the mitten. That’s it!

Students then lay the pieces of tissue paper into the mittens to fill the “stained glass window.” Most students can complete this entire project within 15 minutes.

This particular window decoration was unusual because each child used a specific color of tissue paper.  I set up a separate station for each color around the classroom to easily manage the supplies.






Once the mittens were filled with tissue paper, I placed a second sheet of contact paper sticky-side-down on top of the project to seal all of the tissue paper inside. To complete the project, each student trimmed the excess paper from their mittens.


With a little bit of scotch tape, these stained glass mittens were ready to display on my classroom windows!

You can download a FREE Mitten Template from my TpT store.

The weather outside might be frightful, but my classroom is delightful!

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