Pinterest Project: Etched Glass

Yet again, Pinterest has inspired my latest project: glass etchings. The process is incredibly fast, and relatively simple. Though I've etched glass before, I've mostly worked with pre-made stenciled designs and patterns. The pictures below from Pinterest gave me the idea to write something on glass.     

To make an etching, you have to put a paste on the glass that basically eats away at the surface, creating the frosted look. The most tedious part of the process is masking off the area you don't want etched.

Several weeks ago, I saved an old maple syrup bottle with a handy pour spout for storing homemade salad dressing. My husband has had to ask what was inside more than once, so it became the perfect item to label. I used some old alphabet stickers to form my letters. Because I wanted the actual words to be frosted, I cut out the empty letters from the sticker sheet.

I made sure the glass surface was clean and dry, and then arranged my stickers how I wanted them. Next, I used a q-tip to liberally coat the negative space where the glass was exposed. I used a paste called "Armour Etch," which only needs to sit on the glass for a few minutes.

After about three minutes, I rinsed the paste off of the bottle. Every time I etch glass, I'm nervous that it doesn't work because I can hardly see a "before-and-after" difference while the stickers are on and the glass is wet. However, once I removed the stickers and dried the bottle, I was pleased to see my "salad dressing" label clearly written.

Now I've got the etching itch! What other glass items could use a little face-lift? Candle holders? Wine glasses? Mirrors? There's no telling what I'll etch next.