Monday, April 6, 2015

E is for Etch


Welcome back for the start of week two of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge!


For those of you who missed last week, I'm joining in with over 1500 other bloggers to write blog posts from A to Z in the month of April. It's a big ol' blogging party. I've already been lucky enough to meet some new bloggers to follow and I'm learning some new things along the way -- always a plus!

This year's theme is once again crafts for me, so I've been sharing some new projects with everyone. I have some really fun ones in store this year. Here's what I've done for A to Z so far...



Today's letter is E. Not only do I get to share a new project, I get to share a new technique! Today's project is the set of etched casserole dishes I made for my mother.

I started out by purchasing some glass etchant from my local Hobby Lobby. It's a bit expensive, but a little bit goes a long way. We created quite a few gifts using this stuff already, but I still have more than half a jar. It's well worth the price for what you can do.


Serious safety tip: See that DANGER! warning on the front of the bottle? Pay attention to it. This stuff is crazy caustic. It cuts glass people...what do you think it can do to your eyes and skin? Wear gloves and eye protection and be careful with it. This is definitely not a safe product for kiddos. Period.

Okay...PSA over...back to the project at hand...


Not the finest picture, but here's the deal... I cut out the lettering for my parents' last name in adhesive vinyl using my Pazzle. I then put transfer tape over the top of the vinyl and removed the backing to expose the adhesive surface.


Next step was to adhere the vinyl to the Pyrex casserole dishes, weeding out the letters to leave negative space, and then smoothing out the bubbles around the letters to make sure the surface was isolated. Don't be shy, push good and hard here or the etch will seep under the edges and make your lines all wobbly and junk.


Use a brush to lather on a good layer of the etch (we used disposable foam brushes since they're cheap and pretty much goners after a few of these go rounds). Don't use your good paint brushes here or you'll be sorry. Try and keep your etch layer somewhat even in order to keep an even strength of etching across your project.

Leave the etch on the glass for at least 20 minutes. We went for a full 30 minutes since this was Pyrex, which can be a little more difficult to achieve good results with. Once time is up, give it a good solid rinsing with water, making sure to wear gloves and keep it away from your hands and other items. We cleared the sink out to prevent inadvertent etching of any other glassware or silverware.

And that's it! Now no one will steal your casserole dishes or pie plates from a potluck...unless it's a relative. Then...well...then you're on your own.


I'm so glad you are joining me for A to Z! It's one of my favorite bloggy times of the year. Stay tuned for more fun daily craft projects as we move through the alphabet.

(I'll tell you a little secret here... letters P, S, and V are my personal favorites this year. I'm excited for them to get here. Make sure you don't miss out on those ones for sure!)

Are you participating in A to Z as well? Make sure to leave me a comment including a link to your blog. I'd love to come visit and see what you're up to!

See you all tomorrow for letter F...

19 comments:

  1. I had no idea you could etch glass with a liquid - must be very, very nasty stuff. Great results though :).
    Tasha
    Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

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  2. Sharon StaffordMonday, April 06, 2015

    Oh my gosh, this is spooky! We both did Etching for the letter E! Sharon @ http://musingsfromacrafter.blogspot.co.uk/

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  3. This post makes me miss my crafting/sewing days which I haven't done in forever.. I may have to bust a move and get back on it. I've always wanted to try etching, maybe I'll start out with something small like wine glasses. :) Great tute btw.

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  4. What?! Brilliant! I have a big ol' jar of glass etcher and never, ever thought of doing this.

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  5. Haha. This is brilliant. I have lost several dishes to potlucks already!

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  6. This is a lot of fun. I have done etching on glass a few times as a kid so this brought back some fun memories.

    Sean at His and Her Hobbies

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  7. It's definitely pretty angry stuff. We didn't have any issues with it with some simple precautions though, so most people should be able to use it without incident and still get some awesome projects out of the process.

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  8. I found this hilarious! Great minds I suppose... :)

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  9. I was seriously scared to do this at first, but after the first batch...I'm hooked. Stay tuned for letter "T"...I have a feeling you'll be able to use that one to your advantage. :)

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  10. I made Collin help me since I tend to be a little accident prone. We fared pretty well. I feel a lot more confident in our ability to use it without a problem now.

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  11. There you go Jen! Bust it out...you could be all sorts of crafty.

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  12. It seems to be a pretty universal problem. No mistaking whose dish is whose now!

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  13. It is a seriously awesome product. I was pretty impressed. Stay tuned for letter "T"...I'll show you a few other options... :)

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  14. It was a pretty fun project. One of those that provides fairly instant gratification too...always a plus!

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  15. Thanks Elle. i'll probaby reading your everyday.


    Sunni

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  16. This is a great idea for those 'take a plate' parties, no mistaking the owner of the plates at the end of the night...

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  17. So lovely! Easy way to hold on to your dishes, too. ;-)

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  18. Yep. Although I imagine they could results in some pretty good cases of awkward...

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  19. Thanks Shaina! Plate theft is a serious crime. Now...I just need to find a good way to do something like this with Tupperware...

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