Khatam Painted Cube {Tutorial}
Khatam is the Arabic word for eight point star. The shape is seen a lot in Arab and Islamic architecture and design.
I love using the khatam to teach children about Arab art because it’s such an easy shape to make. It is basically two square that are offset from each other, making the eight points of the star.
Other designs can be made inside the star, once lines are drawn in. My daughter and I decided to use one we found online to make a candle holder out of CD cases.
The Gallery Glass paint we used was sent to me as a Plaid Ambassador. I recieve products to try in my tutorials. This allows me the ability to share tips like: don’t shake the glass paint/lead bottles as this will cause bubbles. Try to keep the flow of paint at a steady stream. However, if you do end up with bubbles, don’t panic, just keep a sewing pin close by, to burst them.
Even though we applied electrical tape to our cube and have an electric candle, please be careful with this decor and provide adult supervision around children.
Supplies
Gallery Glass Liquid Leading
Electric tape
Scissors
Gallery Glass paint in green, blue, red plus clear
Vellum
Khatam design from the internet
4 empty CD cases
We started by making sure our papers fit into the clear slots of the CD cases, first cutting down the Khatam design.
Then we cut down the vellum to fit into the other three clear CD cases.
Once we all the sizes done, we set the paper aside and took apart all 4 CD cases, breaking off the black tabs from only one. This will become the bottom of our cube.
Next we used the electrical tape to attached three of the clear CD cases to each other.
We attached the three clear sides to the black bottom to create our cube. Finally we added our vellum paper into the open slots.
Before we attached our final side, we laid it flat with the khatam paper design inside. We used the liquid lead paint to outlined our black lines.
It was easier to do the lines with the CD cover separate from the cube to be able to turn it around constantly. Take your time making the lines, practicing on a paper towel first.
Once we were done with the outline, we let the case sit for 24 hours for the liquid lead paint to harden. The next day we attached our final side to our cube with electrical tape.
Next we laid the cube with the khatam up and started to fill in the design. It’s okay if the paint goes over the lines, you can wipe off any excess with a paper towel.
After we had colored the inside, we filled the entire outside with the clear glass paint.
Before we put away the bottle, we used the tip to add lines to create texture in the design.
Once our cube had dried for 24 hours, we added an electric candle.
We think the clear came out so fantastic, looking like real stained glass!
If you enjoyed making this khatam craft, stop by these other easy DIY tutorials
Be sure to visit A Crafty Arab on Pinterest to learn more about the Arab world.
