Fancy Jars – Glass Etching

I love candles. Especially candles from Bath and Body Works. Some might say I’m obsessed, but I’m not quite ready to admit that. I won’t bring up my secret candle stash. I wouldn’t want to give “them” any ammunition. In addition to my love of candles, I also hate to throw anything away. I’m always thinking what else could this be used for.

If you’re anything like me, you know counter space in your bathroom is very valuable. To try to give my bathroom a different “feel” (read: not cluttered) I transformed my empty candle jars into holders for my Q-tips and cotton balls. This should be a pretty simple thing. Clean the jars out and viola, you’re done. But of course nothing is that easy for me. In an effort to upscale the jar, I etched the words “swab” and “swipe” on them. I thought it would be a fun little touch.

The Process

Overall this was a quick project that can be completed in a afternoon or during the kids nap time. I think it took longer to get the jars clean than anything else. I must have got a mutant batch of candles because I soaked them in dish soap, then Clorox, ran them through the dishwasher and STILL had to scrub them clean.

After you get your containers nice and clean decide what you want them to say. If you have a cutting matching you can cut the words from vinyl or you can use stickers.

Apply your vinyl to the jar. Whatever part is exposed is what will be etched (look foggy). In my case I wanted the negative space to be etched so I cut my words from some scrap vinyl with my Cricut Maker, weeded the letters, then applied the vinyl to my jars.

I used painters tape to cover any areas I don’t want etched (in case you paint outside of the lines). Grab a paint brush or foam brush and apply your etching cream. Make sure to use gloves when working with the glass etching cream as it can cause chemical burns. Let the etching cream sit for about 3 minutes and rinse it off. I was a little nervous about rinsing it off in my kitchen sink which is steel, but nothing happened. I did however make sure to give the sink a good scrubbing before I did dishes again.

The fun part of this technique it that it can be used in so many ways… mirrors, windows, candy jars, drinking glasses… wherever you have glass.

A side note, if you are concerned about the permanent nature of etching, you can also buy frosted vinyl that looks like etched glass and apply it. Also, the etching cream is a bit on the expensive side, so I’d recommend using a coupon if purchasing from JoAnn or Michaels, but you only use a little, so it will last you forever!

• 

• 

•