I had read before that etched glass really isn’t that hard to do, and after seeing a bevy of Pinterest posts and tutorials, I was like, yeah. I can do that!
In a previous post, I talked about making infused booze. I made a small batch last year, more batches this year and next year, I plan to grow it even more! But one of the things that I have been struggling with is how to make the bottles a bit more… personal. Not just add a gift tag and move on. That’s when it hit me. Etched. Glass. Booze. Bottles.
I had made a cranberry infused vodka this year besides the Limoncello, so I immediately knew I needed to do a Vader themed etched bottle to match the awesome red-colored booze. (Most things relate to Star Wars in my brain. True fact.)
Now since I don’t have a cool Silhouette die-cut machine or even a Cricut for that matter, I had to figure out a way to make some cool images to be stenciled onto the bottle. My solution? Painter’s Tape, exacto knife and fine tip permanent marker. Oh, and the interwebs.
NOTE: You could probably use masking tape but since I had painter’s tape on hand, I decided to use it. Though painter’s tape might be better in the end because it isn’t quite as tacky as masking tape. (You want there to be a good seal on the tape for your design but you don’t want it to leave a whole bunch of glue on the glass you’ll have to remove later)
Basically, I made sure the bottle was very clean, added strips of painter’s tape to the bottle on the section I wanted to etch, created my template for my stencil (I actually found a cool profile image of Vader’s head and traced it free hand until I got the details just right)
I used my exacto knife to cut out the image from my paper and then traced that image onto the tape on the bottle – that’s where that fine tip permanent marker comes in to play. After that, I cut out the image with my blade that I had just traced and removed the strips of tape from the bottle until I had my image ready for etching cream! (I added the alcohol back in so you can really see the detail on the silhouette I made)
Next came the easiest part of the all, the actual etching. I used basic etching cream I picked up at Michael’s for around $12.00 – I used a coupon so it was a little cheaper but that little bottle of cream will last you through many a project. I know because I have already made around 6 glasses and etched 3 bottles and I still have plenty of cream left. (The glasses are a gift the recipients haven’t gotten yet. 😛 They will be in a later post showing off a different stencil technique!)
The etching cream gets placed on the bottle with a paint brush  (be sure not get the etching cream on anything as it is caustic and will burn a hole through whatever you have left it on! It is indeed strong stuff!) and leave it on for about 5 minutes. (yes, I made a couple bottles at once)
After 5 or 10 minutes are up, you just rinse the cream off under warm water, remove the tape and boom! Etched glass bottles, and in my case, etched glass bottles that are Empire approved!
(That larger bottle will be home to a cranberry/vanilla vodka infusion – more red Empire love!)
I just now need to figure out how I can make blue and green booze so I can make some Jedi approved infusions…
stephervescent 