Etched Glass - can I really do this?

This is the end result of my first attemtp at glass etching.  It was a super easy, fast.. and very satisfying project.

Supplies you will need:  something glass (obviously).  I purchased these two candle holders a the Dollar Tree.  They are probably about 4" tall.  The reason I have two is because my sweet husband, who was home not feeling too well today, said he would like to do a project with me.  What a good sport he is!  OK, now back to the supplies.  You will aslo need Glass Etching Cream.  I purchased mine at Michaels.  Not cheap but goes a long way.  I think my 3 oz. bottle was $12.99 but I used a 40% off coupon, so it was quite a bit less.  We used foam brushes to apply the cream.  Another thing you will need is some sort of a stencil.  I bought some at Michaels but decided not to use them because I didn't have repositinobale adhesive... blah blah blah.  So, we improvised...  next step.

I used my Big Kick and cut out a flourish (Tim Holtz's die) on some contact paper.  You obviously don't need printed contact paper but that's what I had on hand, leftover from when we lined our bathroom drawers. 

Then I removed the flourishes and saved them for another use... don't know what that use might be quite yet.  You need the negative space in order to create the stencil.



We then attached it to the glass...  and used some more contact paper around the edges, so the cream wouldn't get on the parts where we didn't want it.  You also want to make sure to remove any air bubbles, so the cream won't get under your stencil.



Here is my Honey applying the etching cream to the glass. 

We applied it very liberally, tapping it on, not brushing.  I think it works better that way.  But since it was our fist time, we don't really know.  The directions say to let it sit for about 5 minutes.  I followed the directions, and Greg left his for about 15 minutes, to experiment...  we didn't see much of a difference between the two. 

Then you rinse the whole thing, washing away all of the etching cream. 

Then peel away your stencil... and marvel at the beauty of your newely etched glass.  It's SO cool!

Here are our two candle holders side by side.  I still need to remove the labels from the bottom... and get some candles to go in them.