Homemade Christmas – Project: Etching Glass

Wait, Wait, Wait! Don’t leave yet. It’s not nearly as difficult as it sounds. In fact, the hardest part is creating your stencil and you can buy those pre-made.

Here’s What You Need:

• Glass Dish (You can buy brand new, but I’ve found some great deals at local consignment and thrift shops.)
• Contact Paper
• Xacto Knife
• Etching Cream (I use Armour Etch – it’s kind of pricey, but even the smallest bottle will complete many projects.)
• Small Paint Brush

1. Type your word or words into your favorite word processing program on your computer. I recommend a font that is basic unless you want to torture yourself with cutting out the intricate details.
2. Print.
3. Trace your letters onto contact paper. Here’s where it could get tricky…you just have to pay attention. If you’re going to etch onto the side of a glass container you’ll want to make sure that you trace the letters as you’ll see them onto the sticker side of the contact paper. If you’re going to etch onto the bottom of a dish like the plate, trace them backward onto the paper side of the contact paper, so that they look correct when the dish is flipped over.
4. Clean your glass very well. I use rubbing alcohol and then air dry or if you’re impatient like I am, dry with a paper towel.
5. Center your stencil over your item, remove backing and adhere to glass.
6. Using an Xacto knife, cut out the letters.

7. When you’re finished removing all of the spaces that you’ll etch, you can start with the etching cream. Use a small paint brush to apply a liberal amount of etching cream to every open space.
8. Let sit to allow etching cream to do its job. My bottle says to wait 5 minutes, but I didn’t go through this much work for it not to work so the shortest amount of time I’ve ever let it sit is 10 minutes. I find 20 minutes will give a crisper image.



9. Wash with warm water to remove all etching cream. I’ll warn you that when you start to wash off the cream, it looks like nothing has happened.



10. Remove stencil to reveal finished product. If you’re very careful, you may be able to reuse the stencil you’ve created. As the glass dries the etching gets lighter, making it more visible.



I’ve shown this on the outside of a glass container, and on the bottom of a plate, but this is also great for the bottom of a glass casserole dish. Sure takes the guess work out of who the dish belongs to after a potluck dinner. Don’t forget to etch a jar for your Chai Tea Mix before giving it away.