What I've Learned Wednesday: Working with Etching Cream

I've had a pretty good amount of experience with etching cream - and I've got to tell you the key factors I've found that really make all the difference.

1. Firmly press the edges of the resist you are using.
   While contact paper is a lot cheaper than vinyl, it does not hold as well and when just a bit of that etching cream gets under the contact paper it creates a messy edge.
2. Liberally - and I mean liberally - apply the etching cream. It can have a tendency to go on thin. But you've REALLY got to get a ton of the etching cream on the glass. 
3. Leave it on - FOREVER.
   This last time, I was going to leave it on for about an hour. Then I forgot about it and it was on for about 4. And I finally got the results that I wanted. So from now on, I'll leave it on overnight if I have to. 
4. Go for a smaller etched area.
   Trying to "go big" with your etching area, really opens you up for error. Go for a smaller, more subtle effect and you'll actually multiply that impact with a crisp, clean finish. 
5. Buy it with a coupon. 
   Etching cream is really pricy. But if you've got a list of pricy supplies you know you'll use, visit AC Moore, Michaels or Hobby Lobby* with their weekly coupons to stock up and never pay full price. Etching cream has become one of the supplies I don't want to be without. 

It is these factors that have gotten me from a miserable failed piece like this:

To exactly what I hoped for:

Etched Candle Holder

After failing at my first attempt with etching cream, I decided it was time to try again. Jesscia at Quarter Life Crisis had a great tutorial on how she worked with etching projects.

Here is what I started with:

 

• Candle holder
• Contact paper
• Etching Cream
• Scissors
• Candle

Step 1 - Cut strips of contact paper

Step 2 - Apply them at intervals to the candle holder

 

Step 3 - Apply the etching cream, liberally and leave on longer than it says to. 

 

 (I still didn't use it quite liberally enough... grrrr)

Step 4 - Rinse and dry. 

 

It isn't perfect, but it is much better.

Failed Candle Holders

So not all projects go as planned, we all know that... figured I'd share one of my failures...

I had high hopes to make these little "love" votive holders. I assembled my materials.

• 4 Glass Votive Holders
• Glass Etching Cream
• Contact paper to use as a stencil
• My cricut to cut the contact paper
• Some red vinyl that I was going to try a little something different with.

So I cut the contact paper and applied it to the votive.

I even burnished down the edges

(Photo by my son, had to use it...)

I then applied the etching cream according to instructions. Which I didn't want to photograph for fear of touching the camera and the etching cream at the same time.

Batch one didn't work out... at all really. I left the cream on the full 5 minutes, thought I had applied it liberally enough, but ended up with spotty results.

Yeah... that is not the look I was going for.

So I reviewed the instructions, and decided that it could have been because they weren't quite clean enough and maybe I didn't apply the etching cream liberally enough or leave it on long enough...

I tried again.

I failed again.

Parts turned out better:

But no single votive was even close to being what I wanted.

I might try again... I might not. 

$2 Etched Beer Mugs

Not sure if there are going to birthday gifts for my mom and stepdad or Christmas gifts, either way, they are done and I'm happy with the way they turned out.

Materials:

• Beer Mugs - found at Dollar Tree, so each of them were only a $1. 
• Etching Cream
• Paint brush
• Vinyl or contact paper

Step 1 - Cut the vinyl however you like, either by hand or with something like a cricut and apply the vinyl to the glass.

Step 2 - Liberally brush on the etching cream & let set well past what they tell you to. 

Step 3 - Rinse off the cream and remove the vinyl.

Step 4 - Clean off any adhesive or other residue and you're good to go.

The Third Time is the Charm

I have had 2 attempts at using etching cream. The first time was a complete failure. The second time went a little better.

And on the third time, I made this little cutie!!!

Realized while lighting it today, that I hadn't shared it yet!