30 Minute Craft: Monogrammed Glasses

My friend Sara just moved into a new bigger house, yay!  I think that's cause for celebration and a little house warming present seems in order too.  This set of monogrammed glasses, the K is for her last name, were very quick, easy, and inexpensive to make.  If you've got the right tools. 

Begin with a set of glasses, straight edges work best.  Mine came from the Dollar Section at Target.  So my out of pocket costs was only four bucks, since I had all the other supplies on hand.

Use contact paper to make your glass etching masks.  I used scraps from other projects and then used my two inch circle punch to cut out the circle.  Make as many as you need and then peel off the backing and attach onto your glasses.  Smooth out any air bubbles and make sure there are no gaps around edge of the circle cut out.

I used my Cricut digital cutting machine to cut out the letter Ks from contact paper to make the monogram.  If you don't have access to one you can also purchase vinyl letters from the craft store or print letters templates out on your computer and hand cut them out.  Center your monograms inside the open circles and press down to seal all the edges.

This is the most expensive part of the project, glass etching cream can be pricey so use a 40% coupon at a store like Joann's or Michael's to save.  A small container likes this last quite awhile, I've done several projects with it in the past, like this treat jar for Grammy and monogrammed cookie jar, and there is still plenty in the container. 

To use the etching cream, spread a thick layer, thicker than you see in the picture above, over the area you want etched.  Be careful and do not go over the edges of your etching mask you created with the contact paper.  Any stray bits of cream will add etching onto the glass that you can not remove.

The most important thing to remember is use a thick even layer of cream so your finished etched area looks consistent.  Any streaks in your original application will result in a streaky finish.  You can fix this mistake by adding another layer of etching cream and redoing the process.  But you will end up using more cream than you would if you just added a thick enough layer in the first place.  I've learned this by trial and error.

Back to this project, I was attempting to squeeze etching into the last few minutes of nap time and ER coming home from school.  I set everything up but the LB woke up early and I had to go get him up from his nap.  By the time I returned a lot of the cream had been at work and had begun to disappear, hence it appears I used too thin of a layer in the photo above. 

Just remember use a thick and even layer that covers the entire surface you want etched and you'll be fine.

Ta-dah!    After the etching cream has been at work or about ten minutes, follow the directions on your particular product, rinse of any remaining cream and peel off your contact paper etching masks.  You should have perfectly done circle monograms.  Lovely!  Wrap them up and impress all your friends with your handiwork ☺ From start to finish this took me less than 30 minutes.  They make a great last minute gift.