- Food & Recipes
-
- Guide: Thanksgiving Recipes and Leftovers
- Checklist: Essential Kitchen Tools Checklist
- Video: How To: Melt Chocolate
-
- Home & Organizing
-
- Guide: Low-Cost Ways to Freshen Up Your Home
- Checklist: Childproofing Checklist
- Video: How To: Remove Ink Stains
-
- Beauty & Fashion
-
- Guide: Fall Clothes Shopping Made Simple
- Checklist: Wardrobe Basics Checklist
- Video: How To: Tie a Bow Tie
-
- Holidays & Entertaining
-
- Guide: Thanksgiving Potluck Guide
- Checklist: Honeymoon Packing Checklist
- Video: How To: Wrap a Present
-
- Health
-
- Guide: Stay Healthy on the Go
- Checklist: Weekly Workout Plan Checklist
- Video: How To: Stretch at Work
-
- Work & Life
-
- Guide: Saving and Budgeting Basics
- Checklist: Identity Theft Prevention Checklist
- Video: How To: Pack a Weekend Bag
-
- Magazine & More
-
- Subscribe: Subscribe to Real Simple Magazine
- Try Real Simple!: Get a Free Preview Issue of Real Simple
- Give a Gift: Give the Gift of Real Simple Magazine
-
 | |||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
| Featured:
Adventures in Chaos|
Nearly Wed|
No-Obligation Book Club Categories: Food & Recipes |
Home & Organizing|
Beauty & Fashion|
Holidays & Entertaining|
Health|
Work & Life|
Technology
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
I think it is officially safe to say that winter weekends give me a hardcore case of cabin fever. To combat this I normally come up with some new DIY project or list of movies to watch. This weekend, I tried my hand at glass etching. I've read plenty of online tutorials, and it didn't seem hard at all. Which in theory it isn't, but I think this is one project (at least for me) that will require a bit of practice. 
I started out with the Cora Carafe from CB2. For my first try, I decided on stripes—easy and relatively quick. I planned on using some sticker paper I bought, but found that you couldn't reposition it on the glass. So I moved on to masking tape. 
After getting the tape positioned on the carafe it was time to use the etching cream. I used Armour Etch which is pretty easy to find at craft or art supply stores. The directions said to paint on a thick layer of the cream and then let it sit for 5 minutes. I followed the directions and then waited not so patiently. 
After 5 minutes, I washed off the etching cream and was able to see the results. It turned out pretty well, but there are a couple of things I'll do differently for next time. 
The masking tape was good in theory, but it wasn't quite right. It didn't stick strong enough to the glass to make a perfectly straight line all the way around. And when I washed off the etching cream, the tape started coming off with it. I think I needed to use something a bit heavier like contact paper. The other thing I'll need to change is making sure that the cream is painted on there really thickly. There were a couple of spots on the bottom band that didn't have enough etching cream to be all the way etched. And when I tried to go back and "re-etch" the results were okay but not great. So the verdict of this project: I haven't given up. I want to give it another try and see if I can get better. But if you're going to try it, I would recommend testing your skills on something you're not attached to (AKA something you didn't pay for), like empty jelly jars. That way if the results aren't what you'd hoped, you won't feel bad about recycling it, and if they do turn out, you'll have a pretty new storage container. Have you ever tried etching? Is it something you would like to try?
Posted by: Nadine| January 26, 2009 at 12:43 PM I have a bunch of jelly jars I'm using to hold pens and pencils. This would work to make them look a little nicer. Thanks for the idea! We've done a couple of instructional posts on etching: I've done quite a bit of etching with the armour etch cream. I've done monogrammed beer steins for my brothers, wine glasses for my mother, and some wall hangings using pictures frames with the backs removed. Contact paper works great- I usually use a craft knife to cut away the areas I want etched, if you use clear contact paper you can put your pattern on the other side of the glass to trace it. It's a great way to make cheap wine glasses look fancy! I have done several glass etching projects. I use contact paper as well, works great. Mostly I've cut my own designs but I have also used fancy hole and border punches from the craft store to make designs to etch! Very brave of you to tackle this project! While I like the results, I'm not sure I'm ready to venture out on this one just yet. Thanks for posting this! I have also read online tips about this and thought it sounded easy, but also like something that I would somehow figure out how to mess up. I appreciate all your "next time I'd do this differently" tips. So helpful! Maybe someday soon I'll get it together to try it myself... Its looking beautiful. A great idea. Thanks for posting I agree with the other posts - Contact paper works great. I made an etched hurricane candle holder for using at my wedding, and instead of using cream, I found a spray for etching glass at my local hobby store - it was in the same section with the other supplies, but it was in a can kind of like spray paint. I found this pretty easy to use, and there wasn't any washing - I just peeled off the Contact paper shapes using a knife to start the edges. When you use the spray, you do have to mask off any areas on the piece that you don't want etched, and we found that masking tape and aluminum foil were good for this. I have done a fair amount of etching with the Armor Etch cream. I leave the cream on for 20-25 minutes and seem to have a better result. As long as your glass isn't incredibly thin, I'd increase the etching time. I usually use cut vinyl for my etching (I like to put names on the bottom of Pyrex dishes) and that works really well. I have a friend who uses contact paper and has had good results with it. Good luck, your carafe looks great! Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions. I'm going to go out and get contact paper this weekend and try for carafe number two. And Brianne, thank you for the suggestion of increasing the time I leave the etching cream on. I'd thought about that, but didn't know if I'd end up hurting the glass. |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
Get the RSS feed
In The MagazineON REAL SIMPLE. REAL LIFE.
Inside Real Simple
Real Simple Products
Copyright © 2009 Time Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Wow! For a "first try" this looks fabulous! Thanks for the inspiration. I'm definitely getting out my jelly jars...