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How to Etch Glass

I have been longing to try glass etching for awhile now! I was afraid to mess up though! I got some inspiration when I was looking at some photos on the Silhouette facebook page where they used vinyl to create a pattern like cement tile. I LOVE CEMENT TILE! The patterns are to die for! I love love love the look, but my husband thinks it the patterns are “too busy.” So I haven’t added any to my house… yet.

Anyway, I decided that glass etching with a cement tile like pattern would be dreamy! I first tried Dollar Tree, but I didn’t think the shape of those mugs would work well with the all over pattern. Then I found the perfect mugs at Target! They were the right shape, but they were $3 for 2 mugs. I’m way to cheap for that. So, I went to a thrift store and I found the perfect mugs! They were $3 for 6 mugs!

I am still so excited! I basically danced out of the store and got a Diet Coke on the way home to celebrate! I also got a glass vase for 50 cents as a trial run. That is where this post comes in (sorry, that was long). So I present to you my first ever glass etch project.

Here is the before vase along with FolkArt glass etch cream that I used for this project

First, I had to wash the glass. I wanted it really clean for the vinyl and etch cream.

Second, I made a cut file in Silhouette Studio with a pattern that I wanted.

Here is the pattern in the program

Third, I cut the design into Oracal 631 white vinyl. Then I weeded out the pattern so it will work like a stencil.

All weeded. Warning: it took awhile. It was worth it though!

Fourth, I used some transfer tape to put it on the glass (trying really hard to eliminate wrinkles) and I used a paint brush to paint on the etching cream.

Finished putting on the vinyl on and making sure the wrinkles are at a minimum.
The etching cream is on! It was different than I expected and it smelled like fenugreek a little. It gave me nursing flashbacks!

After the cream sat on the glass for 20 minutes, I washed it off and saw some awesome etching!

The final product!

At first I was concerned that the etch wasn’t as even as I’d like, but I feel like it gives it more of a cement tile look! I love it! I am so excited to start on my set of mugs and share it with you! I’m thinking I might do more of a floral pattern for the glasses. What do you think?!

7 thoughts on “How to Etch Glass”

  1. I totally did this to put my name on the bottom of my glass pans for when I take meals to people. I never even thought about making the top all cute!! Love it!

  2. Brenna, it turned out so cute! I wish you had told us how much the project costed you all together. Looks awesome 🙂

  3. So excited to see more projects!!! I love crafts too! I haven’t tried etching cream yet, but it looks like I might have to. Is the vinyl reusable, or do you have to cut it out for every item you do?

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