Glass Etching Tutorial

Hi Friends, I wanted to share my glass etching project with you!  I etched this vase for my Mom for Mother’s Day a couple of weeks ago.  It was really easy (my kind of diy 🙂  The hardest part was deciding what to etch and making the stencil!
Okay, here’s what you’ll need:
~Vase/glass piece you’d like to etch
~ Etching Cream
~ Clear contact paper
~ X-acto knife
~ Cutting mat/board
~ Piece of paper
~ Pencil
~ Sharpie marker
~ Tape
~ A paint brush
Step One: Measure your glass piece (a vase in my case) to see how big your 
contact paper and stencil should be.  I don’t have a picture for this step, sorry :/
StepTwo:  Decide what you want stenciled on you glad and draw it on a piece of paper.  Go over it with  a sharpie.  A note about choosing your image: simple images work better since you are making a stencil and applying it to the glass.  Getting too intricate can make it tricky!  I chose a branch with birds to wrap around the vase.
Step Three:  Place your contact paper (paper side down) over your image and trace.  I added the word “Lola” to the bottom of my Mom’s vase because that is what my boys call her 🙂

Step Four:  Cut out your stencil.  Make sure you keep track of all the 
little pieces so you can use them later!  I used tape to make sure nothing moved while I traced.

Step Five:  Remove the paper and apply the contact paper stencil where you want it on the glass.  It’s hard to see in this picture, sorry.  Make sure you start with a clean, non-greasy surface of glass and that you get rid of air bubbles when you apply the stencil.

Step Six:  Apply a thick and even coat of the etching cream to the stencil.  
Let it sit for 5 or so minutes.  Make sure you are in a well ventilated area.

Step Seven:  Rinse etching cream off with warm soap and water 
(before removing stencil) and vio-la!! 

My Mom liked her vase, especially because my Dad filled it with roses for Mother’s Day 🙂

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