DIY: Personalized Etched Glasses

The next DIY project I would like to share from my adventures of the engagement party are the personalized etched glasses I created. I knew from the start of planning this party that I wanted to created a great party favor, not something frimpy from the party store but something that could at least be put to good use (even for just one night). So with a little inspiration from Pinterest (of course) I thought of etching glasses with Ryan & Shaya and their wedding date. Every tutorial that I found was hand cutting each letter on vinyl, mostly because they were only making one or a handful of etches while I was trying to make 30+ so handcutting was definitely not an option. So my adventure began....

Before I really had any idea how I was going to accomplish this project I bought about 30 glasses from my local thrift store. It was 50% off day so the final price per glass was no more than 75 cents. Than I tried to find a way to have die cuts "printed" professionally. My thought process was first there was professional companies that printed than we created the home office printer so that there should be a professional company that creates die-cuts and that afterwards the cricut and other machines were created as in-home solutions. Well I found companies who did do vinyl/die cut work but it was simple and only on large-scale. So my next mission was to find a cricut. Honestly I was on the verge of buying one (would have been a MAJOR investment in something I only needed for one project) but then my lovely Aunt came through and loaned me hers (THANK YOU THANK YOU!).

So I had what I thought to be all my supplies;
Glasses, cricut, contact paper, isoprypol alcohol, exacto knife, etching cream.

I tested my first glass and although I loved it I noticed that the contact paper was extremely thick, meaning it did not lay completely flat and left small gaps for imperfections, I knew I could at least buy vinyl at Hobby Lobby which would be thinner. But randomly while working (I am a merchandiser at Pepsi) I picked up one of our order printouts which come with each pallet of product, I was about to throw it away since it is completely useless at that point when I realized it was PERFECT. Although small it was a sticker and I could easily use it for the project- so I started collecting them. I am glad I work alone so no one would think I was crazy for pocketing them....all of them.

1. Clean the glasses with alcohol (which is better than than cleaning with Windex which has extra additives).

2. Cut stickers with your preferred method (R&S, 10.5.13)                  

                     Warning: Make sure to double check EVERYTHING.

 I made the huge mistake of making about 10 glasses

 with the wrong date on them. Their wedding is actually

 10.4.13 >:|  I almost ripped my hair out when I figured that out!

3. Peel the letters and stick the negative on the glass. I added extra tape alone the edges to protect the glass.

4. I applied a thick layer of etching cream with a popsicle stick while wearing latex gloves.

5. Allow the glass to sit 5-7 minutes while mixing the cream to move the crystals about the half-way mark (moving the crystals allows for a more even etch)

6. Rinse in hot water to remove the tape and the etching cream.

7. Enjoy (I did until I realized my extremely stupid mistake!)



Here are the glasses being used at the engagement
party I made mugs that said "Congrats Man"