Friday, October 16, 2015

Glass Etched Gifts

For me, buying a gift for people seems to be getting harder and harder.  I always want to get something thoughtful and useful but fun and creative at the same time.  Lately, etched glass has been my go to gift.  There are so many options depending on what the person may need.  For Christmas a few years ago, I personalized beer mugs for all the men in my family.  

Since then, I have had a little more practice and now I am making etched glass gifts all the time.  It is easier than you think.   You can either buy an adhesive stencil or if you have a vinyl cutting machine like the Silhouette you can make any number of designs.  I would not recommend using a regular, non-adhesive stencil because you do not want any of the etching paint to get under the stencil.

Recently, it was my husbands grandparent's anniversary so I decided an etched pitcher would make a nice gift for a couple that really doesn't NEED anything.  I found a nice straightforward pitcher at Bed, Bath & Beyond and put their Initial on it with a scalloped circle design around it.

(It is VERY hard to get a decent picture of the pitcher.  This is the best I could do!)


While shopping a second pitcher caught my eye because of the shape and because it was on sale.  Coincidentally, Silhouette was offering a cute "HOME SWEET HOME" image as their free image of the week so I decided to treat myself to a new pitcher.  Instead of using expensive vinyl I found that contact paper from the dollar store worked well for this project.  I used it for both the actual stencil and transfer material.  Make sure the stencil is on your glass well!!  


If using the contact paper, pull the transfer layer back carefully.  I had my straightedge handy for this part as well in case any of the stencil began to lift.


After removing, I carefully applied a thick layer of the glass etching paint to the glass.  This stencil was a little tricky because of the fine lines.  After waiting the time suggested on the etching paint bottle, I washed off the paint and my pitcher was complete. 


Glass etching is such a fun, easy way to personalize any ordinary glassware and the dollar store has some of the best finds!

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