Thrifty Finds: Etched Vases

My interview is up here. I had decided I would do this as my craft if I made "the cut". When I didn't, I decided I would do them anyway. There is a very COOL and CHEAP thrift store in the area that I scoured for plain glass vases. The guy gave me a deal: .75 for the big vases and .50 for the small ones. I took it. And, in about 5 minutes, made this.



Here's what I did. Using my Silhouette, I cut words out of vinyl and used the negative space and stuck them to the vases, making sure to seal the edges of the letters very tight. This was a little difficult since the surface is curved, but it helped to start in the middle. Some of the letters required pieces to be placed in the middle (like the middle of the "a").

Then I painted thick, even layers of etching cream on them. Silhouette sells this, but I used Armour Etch from Hobby Lobby ($9 for 3 oz. which will last FOREVER!) This stuff is potent and includes ammonia and other strong stuff, so use gloves and keep out of children's reach!



Then I washed the etching cream off after about 5 minutes and removed the vinyl.

And there ya have it! I also made some flower pens to put in it since we seem to ALWAYS be out of writing utensils around here. This is a cheap fun gift. I actually made another vase for a newlywed couple that turned out really neat. This is a great cheap gift for anyone!