DIY Etched Glass Easy Step by Step Tutorial!

An easy to follow DIY etched glass tutorial!

I’ve been having a lot of fun with DIY glass etching lately, it’s so addicting!  If you’ve never tried it, this is actually something you can easily do at home. It’s super easy and cheap!

There are so many possibilities of what you can make and these make great gifts.  It doesn’t have to be wine glasses, you can etch anything glass… mason jars, beer mugs, trifle bowls, candles, etc…  

Just follow my DIY etched glass tutorial and sit back and admire the beautiful etched glass that you made!

Materials for DIY Etched Glass Tutorial:

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links from Amazon and/or Cricut.com. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my links (purple text).

• Armor Etch Cream
• Glass of your choice – I buy a lot of my wine glasses from the Dollar Tree
• vinyl – I use Oracal 631
• Transfer Tape
• Cricut cutting machine– always check prices between Cricut.com and Amazon (click links to compare!)
• paintbrush

So, let’s get started!!

Update:  I now have a much more detailed glass etching tutorial with a video tutorial and how to design a Monogram to etch into glass here.

Etching Glass DIY:  Preparing Your Stencil

First thing you’ll want to do is cut out your design on vinyl.  I use my Cricut but you can use any cutting machine, buy something off Etsy or even use stickers.

For this project, we are using the vinyl as a stencil so you will want to weed OUT the design.  You’ll want to leave a 1/2 inch to an inch of vinyl around the design so the cream doesn’t run over.  

Here’s my design weeded out with my Cricut weeding tool.

Apply transfer tape to your vinyl and then apply it to the glass where you want it.  

Tip: With rounded surfaces, I usually make slits around the edge to make sure it lays down flatter.  

I pull on the vinyl a little and stick it down really tight.  Press all around to make sure it is really stuck everywhere!

Then you can take off the transfer tape.

Since some of the edges weren’t very thick I added some painters tape around to keep the cream from touching the glass where I don’t want it!

Then you’re going to apply the etch cream.  Make sure you do this in a ventilated area, it’s pretty smelly!

I’d love if you come craft with me on Instagram!  Click below to follow.  Also, if you make any of my crafts I’d love to see them!!  Tag me @leapoffaithcrafting or #leapoffaithcrafts.

Glass Etching Tutorial

Dip a paintbrush into the cream and dab it onto the design.  Make sure there is enough to cover the exposed area but not so much that it drips.

These were some mason jars that I made for my daughter’s 13th birthday party for all the guests to use as cups.

Sometimes I will turn the glasses upside down halfway through if they seem to be running a little.  I leave it on for about 15-20 minutes.

You can scrape some of the etch cream off with the paintbrush to put extra back in the bottle if you want.  

Then take it to a sink and rinse off the cream with soap and water.

Peel off the vinyl and wash the whole glass.  Then hold it up in the light and admire your DIY etched glass masterpiece!  I’ve made quite a few lately.

For these DIY etched glass wine tumblers, I put etching all the way around so it’s kind of hard to take a picture of since you see both sides!!

Along with the DIY glass etching wine glass, I also made a How to Tell Time board. (click link for tutorial)

If you’d like to find out all the wonderful things a Cricut can do, check out my Cricut resource guide here!

If you’d like to save this tutorial on etching glass for later, make sure to PIN it now.  Just hover over the top left of the image below.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!

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