By Amber Graham/photos by Kelly Carr
Etching a name or picture turns an ordinary dish into extraordinary!
Gather your supplies:
Glass Gift Item we chose a baking dish
Contact Paper
Craft Knife
Glass Etching Cream (sold at most craft stores)
Sponge Brush
Stencil Design we used a last name printed off the computer
This project is probably the most involved project of our series. The stencil cutting requires a little more work and patience than is required in the other projects. If you happen to have a fancy craft cutter that will cut vinyl (or a friend that does) this project will be quick and easy. If you aren’t one of those girls (like me) you will be cutting your stencil by hand. It isn’t hard but it does take some time. The results are definitely worth it!
These directions are for a computer, but you don’t have to use one, it can also be done by hand. Here’s how I cut my stencil:
First, I printed the name I wanted in a font I liked. To save some ink and give me a line to follow I formatted the text to only outline the font. This is totally optional and the project is do-able printing the word or design in the way it normally shows up on your screen.
Next, I cut a piece of contact paper a few inches larger than the design (the wood grain you see above is the contact paper) and taped it to my cutting surface. I happen to have a self healing cutting mat. You could use a piece of cardboard, a section of the newspaper, or a cutting board instead.
Then I taped the printout of the name directly on top of it.
The idea here is to create a stencil from your contact paper. Using my craft knife, I began cutting out the name. You are going to have to use some pressure to get through both the paper and the contact paper.
The little knife used above is invaluable if you will be attempting more than one of these, especially if your design has a lot of curves. This craft knife pivots and swivels and allows one to cut curves easily.
Finished stencil. Be sure to save the middle of letters like the O!
The tricky part is over on to the fun part!
Remove the backing from the contact paper and position the stencil on the glass. We used a baking dish but the etching cream works on any glass surface. Take care to make sure the stencil is smoothed down if there are gaps around the letters, the cream may bleed under.
Using the sponge brush, apply a thick, even coat of glass etching cream to the glass. Follow the instructions on your container ours said to allow the cream to stay on for eight minutes, then rinse the cream away, and dry.
Finished product!
This would be a wonderful hostess gift for those Christmas parties we all have. Bake whatever your specialty is in it and take it with the hostess’ name personalized on it.
Click on the fifth button above to get a printer friendly version of this post.
This project really started me thinking about the ways you could use this. You could etch designs instead of names (like Christmas trees or polka dots). How about reversing the process? Use contact paper to cover part of the glass and etch the rest of the piece. The whole thing would be etched and the design would be clear. You could also combine this with the memory jar project and etch the year on the jar. Or you could do one as a gift and put the year and personalize it with the person’s name. Add a pretty tag with a few directions and it would be an even more unique gift. Just think of the canisters, dishes, glassware, mirrors, even old windows! My, this could keep me busy for a long time!
This is beautiful! I love all the ideas you give us for gift-giving.
So fun, love the idea for giving as gifts. Would also be great to do to your own dishes while you are at it, so that your name is always on your dish when you attend a pot-luck dinner!
Neat idea for a wedding gift.