Etched Glass

February 28, 2012 11 Comments

Remember the I made?? Well I got a little braver and went a little bigger with this one and made an Etched Glass Drink Set for my friend!
*As first seen on The Simple Things. Thanks for letting me share, Angela!

Etching glass REALLY isn’t that hard! It just takes a little bit of time and patience…

As well as the RIGHT etching cream!

First off, you’ll need the glass you plan to etch…

For this gift I chose a glass wine pitcher and four glasses. You can etch just about any type of glass though… For example you can to see those candle holders I etched awhile back…

You’ll also need etching cream. I have tried a few different kinds, but the EtchAll etching cream has worked the best for me so far.

Please keep your hands safe by wearing protective gloves and keep your table top safe by laying down at least a layer of newspaper.

You’ll also need the shape or words you plan to etch on the glass. I use sticky backed vinyl cut with my Silhouette SD for my stencils. This time around I cut out my gift receiver’s name for the pitcher, and ‘her’ glass, and some pretty swirly shapes that were included with my Silhouette software.

Glass etching is really as easy as sticking the stencils to the glass, smoothing it down… Then (while wearing gloves) use a small sponge (I used a makeup sponge) to apply* the etching creme inside the area you’d like to be etched… And wait.

*The key is by apply I mean really glob that stuff on there!

(The etching cream does come with directions for how long to wait, etc.)

Finally, you’ll peal the stencil off, rinse in cold water, and viola!

You have pretty, personalized, etched glass.

Just so you know… Sort of a disclaimer…

Etched glass is CRAZY hard to photograph! haha.

You can click the picture to enlarge it and really get a good look if you’d like.

Happy etching lovelies!!

Etched Glass Candle Holders

January 17, 2012 13 Comments

Winter seems to be in full swing!
Well… as much as it gets to be winter in Arizona…
Don’t be jealous… haha. 😉

When thinking about decorating for winter…

You know that time between Christmas and Valentine’s Day? 😉

I realized I don’t really have anything to decorate with that isn’t holiday specific.

When I think of just winter I think of cold, snow, frost, ice.

Etched glass has always looked liked frost/ice to me, so to bring a touch of that into my decor, I made some etched glass candle holders.

I used three small glass bulb shaped vases (under $1 apiece at Wal-Mart).

A sheet of vinyl for my stencil.

My trusty Silhouette SD

(You could cut out stencils with scissors or an Exacto knife if you don’t have a cutting machine)

A small bottle of EtchAll etching cream

Gloves and a make up sponge applicator

Because of the ingredients in the EtchAll, make sure you wear some kind of gloves to protect your hands. Also, carefully follow the instructions on the packaging!!!

Rinse in cold water after allowing the cream to work for at least 15 minutes.

I left mine for a good half hour just to be sure.

This was my first time etching glass… so of course, I learned a few lessons I’d like to share. 😉

Glass Etching Lessons Learned:

The etching cream really needs to be layered on there to make sure it etches the entire surface inside your stencil.
Your stencil needs to be smoothed down completely. Otherwise the cream will leak under it and you’ll get weird etched shapes…
Taking photos of etched glass is hard!!! If anyone has any tips, I’d love to hear!