Sunday, May 6, 2012

Glass Etching, Part II

Glass Etching, Part II: A Beautiful Disaster

Welcome back to part 2! I am happy to report that I did a much better job this second time around. I actually did a stencil and a reverse stencil. I started with the jar I wanted to use for my sister. I am going to show you how to do a frosted letter and how to do the outside of the stencil frosty.

Materials:
-Glass surface (I got cheap jars from Ikea for like $4, but you can also get them from craft stores)
-Armour Etch cream
-Sponge applicator
-Scissors
-Contact paper
-Rubber gloves
-Googles
-Long sleeves, pants, and close-toed shoes
-Sharpie/Pen/Pencil
-Plastic grocery bag (for your garbage)
-Stencils (optional)


Frosted Letter Tutorial



1. Before I got down and toxic with Armour Etch (AE) cream, I decided to make my stencil first. I recommend medium to large sized stencils. I lined it up on the contact paper, and cut out a square large enough to center the N within it. Well, my mom did. I did the photography for this part. I wanted a frosty letter "N" on the jar, which means I would have to cut the N out and AE it. I cut the N out using a razor knife.



2. We trimmed the edge of the N on the left down, and removed the top portion of the contact paper. We gently applied it onto the jar. Don't press too hard initially, as you may need to move or re-align the contact paper.


3. Once it was on and I was satisfied with the result, I pressed hard, smoothing out all the bubbles. The important thing is to keep the bubbles away from the N part, or else the cream will leak into them and distort your design. We still had some bubbles, but the weren't touching the N at all.


4. Time to get suited up, yet again


5. I went outside with the jar (with rubber gloves on) and opened the AE cream. I mixed it with a popsicle stick.


Then, using the sponge applicator, I generously applied the cream all over the N.




6. Now, I stood the jar up to dry. BAD IDEA! Don't do that. What happened was, the cream ran down the jar past the stencil. I quickly rinsed it off, but you might not be so lucky. So, lay your jar down to dry, and stabilize it with something around it so it doesn't roll. Then, set a timer for 30 minutes.


7. After 30 minutes, I took the jar inside and rinsed off the AE cream.



 8. Here is the finished product! I had a little bit of AE cream that showed where it dripped down, but hey, nobody's perfect...especially me!


I filled the jar up with M&Ms and tied a ribbon around it.



 Frosted Background Tutorial

For this one, the steps were all the same, except I used the letter itself on the glass, and frosted all the area around it. I used a casserole dish my mom had lying around. This one's great for a housewarming present, and to make sure you get back your casserole dish if you lend it out.

I began to cut out my stencil of the letter Z. However, I realized that when I cut it out, I had the contact paper facing the wrong way. AS a note, you have to flip your stencil backwards onto the contact paper and trace it. Then, I applied the pieces one by one onto the inside bottom of the dish. You can do this on the outside, but a lot of companies print their logo on the bottom, making it all bumpy.



3. I applied the cream generously all over the bottom.


 Then, I waited 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes, I rinsed the dish out.

Here was the result:

Not too shabby! I would definitely do this again. Especially now that I am not afraid of my skin melting away from the AE cream.

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