Etched Hurricane Candleholder Tutorial

     I LOVE the dollar store.  Specifically, Dollar Tree.  You can find some super neat glass items there to experiment on, and not worry if you completely mess it up because... if you do, it was only $1 *shoulder shrug*... and if you don't, it was only $1!!! *excited happy dance*

   So this was my first time etching glass.  I was a bit nervous, but I found that I absolutely LOVED it and I thought you guys might too.

    See what you can make?  Doesn't take much and it's not only inexpensive, but LOOKS fantastic.

Here's what you'll need-

Hurricane candleholder or other glass item to etch
Etching cream (I used EtchAll, but there are other etching creams out there)
Vinyl for a stencil (some people use contact paper, but I haven't tried it)
Weeding hook
Transfer tape
Squeegee
Cutting tool such as a Silhouette or a utility knife and your time and patience.
Old paintbrush

Step 1- 
     Design and cut your stencil, leaving at least a 1" edge around your design that you want to etch.  I knew that I wanted to do snowflakes on  mine so I measured the candleholder and eyeballed about how big I wanted it.  Pulled up the image in Silhouette Studio, sized it, and cut it out on my vinyl.

Step 2-
     Once your design is cut, use your weeding hook to pull out the part that you want to etch.  Make sure that you get everything you want to see etched on your glass is weeded off of your stencil.

Starting to weed out the design.

Weeding complete

Step 3- 
     Lay your transfer tape over the top of your design and squeegee across your stencil to get the vinyl to stick to your tape.  Then transfer the design over to the glass.  Go SLOWLY.  Make sure you line up your stencil before placing it on your glass.  Then, squeegee it down REALLY WELL.  You don't want any bubbles or lumps on the design part of your stencil.  (Around the edge doesn't matter, but you want to make sure that the design part is squashed on there nice and tight so the etching cream doesn't leak out through a non-secure part and blur or smear your design.)  I squeegee'd and then went back over with my fingers.

Step 4-
     Gently peel back your transfer tape and then re-eyeball your design.  I ran my fingers over it again (and held it up to the light to check for bubbles around the design edge) to make sure that it was stuck on there really well where the design was.  Make sure the placement and everything is where you want it because once you put the cream on, you're stuck with it.  :)

Check your stencils

Step 5-
     Using your old paintbrush (**DON'T TOUCH THE CREAM WITH YOUR BARE SKIN**), blob the etching cream on there.  Be GENEROUS, don't skimp on this part, but be careful where you put it, if you go outside of your stencil, your glass will have a mark.

Step 6- 
     Wait.  :)  I waited 30 minutes wiped a part off (use a paper towel, don't wipe with your hand) and held it up.  It wasn't as deep as I wanted it to be, so I reapplied to that spot and waited 30 more minutes... then went on to Step 7.

Step 7-
     By this point, my kids were wigging out and jumping around like crazy.  I completely forgot to scrape the excess cream back into the jar and, instead, I was rushing and didn't realize until I had already started to rinse and the pic was taken.  Right now is when you should scrape the excess cream off and put it back into the jar.  THEN rinse it off.  (I was kicking myself afterwards.)

     If, after you rinse, you are still not happy with how deep the etching is, you can dry it off completely, and then redo Steps 5-7.  If you're happy with how it looks, then you can move on to Step 8.

Step 8-
     Remove the stencil and take a bow.

     Or take two....

   Once you're finished congratulating yourself, do it again after you decorate.  ;)

    Enjoy.