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Glass Etching 101 Presented by Mary from The Fandom Clan

Today we are going to shake things up a little bit.  Instead of me showing you how to do something new, Mary from The Fandom Clan is going to present a tutorial on glass for beginners.  I am a geek, she is a geek, it’s a match made in Fandom.  Make sure you check out her blog if you want make your glasses even cuter or “Kawaii”

When Mary isn't crafting and making DIY tutorial videos for YouTube, she's a full time mom, raising 6 of her 7 kids who still live at home. She just recently has become a grandmother and loves it! She also loves to bake, try new recipes, read almost all fiction genres, and play geeky board and video games with her family.

So on to Mary’s tutorial, I will let her take it from here.

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For this tutorial I will show you two methods of etching glass, and 3 variations of creating simple and inexpensive ways to make your etching templates. No special equipment needed!

All in all this project cost me less than $10 per method – pending you have most of the normal crafter tools handy.

I’m going to cover the 3 ways I created my stencils first.

How To Make Stencils For Glass Etching

 

Method 1 – Painters Tape Stencil Making

1. Find an outline clip art picture on the Internet of a daisy, or download a template from my blog. Print and cut out the template. I prefer to do this on card stock but regular paper will work fine too. Take several pieces of painters taps and layer them slightly on top of each other to create a piece just larger than your template. Trace out the template onto the tape.

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2. With your Xacto knife, cut out the piece. Place on your glass where ever you would like. Create as many of these as you would like to put on your glass.

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Method 2 – Sticker Paper Stencil Making

1. Use the daisy described in method one.  If you did not use the downloadable template, arrange your picture on a word document. Print on the sticker paper. Find an outline clip art picture on the Internet of a daisy or download the template here. (You can link back here if you like - http://thefandomclan.com/spring-kawaii-wine-glasses/) If you did not use the downloadable template, arrange your picture on a word document. Print on the sticker paper.

2. Cut out the daisies and apply on the glass in the manner you would like.

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3. TIP! – If you are making inverted and regular glasses use the Xacto knife to cut out both templates for your glasses as shown in the picture to the right. You can also use this time saving tip with the painters tape method above if you are careful when cutting out.

 

 

Method 3 – Wax Paper Stencil Making

1. Use the daisy described in method one.  If you did not use the downloadable template, arrange your picture on a word document. I prefer to do this on card stock but regular paper will work fine too.

2. Take a sizeable piece of wax paper and tape it down to your cutting mat. Lay strips of painters tape across the mat to create a piece just larger than your templates.  Seen in the picture below. 

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3. Trace the templates and cut out with scissors. This method only works for creating the inverted templates. Because the Xacto knife catches pretty easy and drags it was hard to create the dual templates as we did in the previous two stencil making methods.

4. Then peel the wax paper off the back of your “stickers” you have created and arrange them on the glass as you would like.

 

Glass Etching For Beginners

 

Method 1 – Regular Etching Method Using Regular Etching Cream

This is the regular old method of etching glass, and is best used if you want to etch a solid image onto the glass.

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Supplies

  • 4-6 stemless wine glasses – I got mine at the dollar store for a buck each
  • Small bottle of etching cream – I barely used any of the cream from the 3 oz. jar I purchased, and that was the smallest one they sold. Paid about $5 after my 40% off coupon
  • Rubbing alcohol
  • Gloves – I used food handler gloves and they worked fine
  • Cue tips or a small spouncer
  • Painters tape for Method 1 stencil making
  • Painters tape and wax paper for Method 2 stencil making
  • Sticker paper for Method 3 stencil making

1. Clean the glass thoroughly with soap and water. If you have little stickers on the bottom just use soap and water to remove them. Dry the glass and apply alcohol to the glass.

2. After creating your template with one of the three methods above, press the stickers down, and make sure they are firmly sticking to the glass. Especially the inner points of the sticker as they have a tendency to stick up.

3. Make sure you are in a well ventilated area or even outdoors. This stuff has ammonia in it and is really stinky! Use the cue tip or spouncer to begin to apply the cream. I applied a liberal amount each flower and still barely used any of the jar for all four glasses I created. You will want to wear gloves! This cream will eat your skin. I found for this particular project I didn’t need to wear gloves while applying the cream, but I did wear gloves when removing it.

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4. Let the cream sit for about 5-6 minutes or until it’s hardened. Then with your gloves on, begin to rinse off the cream and the stickers with cold water. 

5. If you have never etched glass before DON’T FREAK OUT AT THIS PART! After you remove the cream and stickers, and give it a final wash, your glass is going to look like it didn’t work. The water will make it look like it barely etched the glass at all. This is normal. Dry the glass off and let it sit for a moment and you will see the effect better after this!

 

Method 2 – Inverted Glass Etching Method WITHOUT Etching Cream

Most of the time you will see where a template is placed on a surface, and then the inside of the template is etched. Method 1 is the reverse of how you normally would etch glass and creates an inverted effect as shown below.

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Supplies

  • 4-6 stemless wine glasses – I got mine at the dollar store for a buck each
  • Krylon Frosted Glass Spray – Semi Transparent (or any other brand of frosting spray that you would like to use) – cost was $5 after using %40 off coupon.
  • Rubbing Alcohol
  • Cutting Mat
  • Xacto knife
  • Painters tape
  • Painters tape for Method 1 stencil making
  • Painters tape and wax paper for Method 2 stencil making
  • Sticker paper for Method 3 stencil making

1. Clean the glass thoroughly with soap and water. If you have little stickers on the bottom just use soap and water to remove them. Dry the glass and apply alcohol to the glass.clip_image020

2. After creating your template with one of the three methods above, press the stickers down, and make sure they are firmly sticking to the glass.

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3. Create a rim for the drinking edge by placing a strip of tape down on your cutting mat or a piece of wax paper. If you used the sticker method you should have extra. Free hand draw on the tape or sticker paper a wavy line. Then cut along this line and use it to place around the rim of the glass.

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4. Reinforce the top of the glass with extra painters tape if needed.

5. Take your project outdoors and place some old cardboard underneath it. Rotate it in quarter turns spraying according to the cans directions. Allow about 5 minutes to dry before applying a second coat. I only had to use two coats to get the desired etching effect.

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6. Once it’s dry you can remove the tape and you done. PLEASE NOTE – If you plan on adding color to your glass DO NOT remove the flower tape! Leave it in place!

7. If you would like to see how to add color embellishments to your etched project, using glass paint, visit my website here!

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Back to Cassandra, That Crafty Girl From Ohio here.  If you loved this post make sure to check out Mary’s blog and show her some comment love.  I just wanted to thank her again for stopping by and sharing this great tutorial with all of my readers.  It’s super cute and I can’t wait to try it myself.  I have never Etched glass before myself so I am supper excited to get started.  I had no clue I could make my own stencils for glass etching.  So much crafty fun.

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