Glass Etchers Assemble!

Project: Superhero Etched Glasses.
Insipiration: I Am Momma - Hear Me Roar - via Pinterest
Materials: Drinking glasses, masking tape, printer, excato knife, glass etching cream.

The first attempt at glass etching was okay. Not awesome. Not amazing. Just....Okay. So, here I will share my learning experiences with YOU! I Am Momma used some pretty fancy stuff to transfer designs onto glasses as far as my local hardware store is concerned. My local craft store is Michaels, and it's too far away to run to on a whim. I found cute little glass mugs with handles from Homesense for $9.99. One of the six mugs was broken. Never shop for glass ware at Homesense: Check.

The loblaws had glasses for $1 each! Score!

First up, the original five glasses.

Transformers logo.

Avengers logo.

Batman logo.

Captain America logo.

Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.





To create these etchings I first searched the internet for silhouette images of each character and logo. I printed the logos and covered the glasses in electrical tape. Then I taped the print-out to the glass. Using an excato knife I carefully traced the image, cutting out the area I wanted to be etched. Then I painted the glass with Martha Stewart Glass Etching Medium because Armor Etch wasn't at my local craft store. I can't tell you the price difference, but I can suggest that if you purchase the etching medium from Michaels that you go with a 40% off coupon. I let the etching medium sit on the glass for 15 minutes, then washed it off and peeled back the tape. There are pictures in the next section for the second set of glasses. It's hard to see in the pictures, but the electrical tape allowed the etching medium to seep between the layers a little bit, so every few centimeters there is a little triangle on the image. It's not a big deal and I'm not sure anyone would notice unless I pointed it out, but I am a bit of a perfectionist - doesn't work well when it is coupled with my total lack of patience - so I would not recommend electrical tape.

For the second set I used wide masking tape, which was much better, but still not perfection. The glasses were larger, which made me bold enough to attempt more intricate designs.

Here is the second set, freshly etched.

 

The Dark Knight.

Captain America.

The Hulk.

Iron Man.

Optimus Prime.

Rorschach.






The masking tape made free-standing detail difficult, like eyes and chest logos. Batman originally had eyes, but they didn't make the final cut. I learned from Batman and now Iron Man can see.

I saw a blog that used mactac instead of tape.  I think mactac would provide less issues with tape lines, and lit would allow you to cut out the images on a flat surface.  I was carving on the glass, which didn't damage the glass but it did make things slightly more difficult. In the Momma Roar blog transfer tape is used and looked pretty successful. Given the inventory of my local hardware store and the distance of the nearest craft store, I thought I would attempt to do as much as I could using household items.

I will update this blog as birthdays and other special occasions creep up and I shower loved ones with unique gifts.

Good luck to everyone who attempts glass etching. Please share your work here or on other sites it inspire and educate others.