Mason Jar Glass Etching

I am in the process of creating a birthday present for my mother-in-law. She decorates with antique and farm style, so I found this adorable wooden caddy.

I'm going to put 5 mason jars inside each container with homemade bath salts, scrubs and candles. Today I created one of the candle jars by etching a design on the outside using my handy dandy Cricut. This is my first time experimenting with glass etching cream. I know I should I have chosen a scrap jar to work on, but I hate wasting time and material like that.

First of all I practiced cutting my design on white paper so that I could figure out what size I wanted without wasting my precious vinyl. I ended up using the Storybook cartridge and the border on page 55 at a size of 3-3/4". I then cut this out on vinyl and removed the inside cut.

Apply a transfer tape over the top to make it easier to transfer all the little pieces to the jar.

Carefully remove the vinyl and tape from the cutting board. This was a little tricky and I had to use my spatula to make sure all the pieces stuck to the tape. Then I transferred it to the jar using the grid to center it. I was worried that the vinyl would not stick to the jar since I removed the backing before I put it on the cutting board, but it worked perfectly.

Remove the tape and press out any bubbles. This took a little while and I used my spatula again to press on bubbles and even pulled some pieces up and re-positioned them. It is pretty important not to have bubbles or the cream will seep under the vinyl. I did leave some because it is tricky on round glass. As you can see I also added tape so that I didn't have to worry about going anywhere I didn't want to with the cream.

Now I was ready to collect supplies. I choose all disposable supplies because the Armour Etch is pretty harsh stuff. I found my Armour Etch on Amazon.com although it should be at Michaels, Jo-Anns or Hobby Lobby. I just didn't feel like searching the store when the price is comparable online. It is really not that common, so it may be hard to locate.

 I then applied a thick coat by dabbing the sponge all over. Make sure it is a pretty even layer but also thick.

 Armour Etch says to leave it on for 60 seconds, but I do not think that is long enough, so I left it on for 10 minutes. I was planning on 15 but grew impatient. :) I wiped the extra cream off with wipes then rinsed the rest off under water. Supposedly you can save the cream, but I didn't think this was necessary. I had some seepage under some of the vinyl but overall the design I wanted turned out nicely. Actually better that I expected for my first try.

 I put Epsom salt on the bottom and then of course the candle. I think it turned out great especially for my first time and was quite easy to do. I think it took about an hour and half to do (one kid's naptime) from start to finish. I think I may try doing a reverse of the design on the next jar.

Using Armour Etch actually erodes the glass very slightly to create this etching looking. It is permanent and can not be rubbed off with your fingers. You could try a similar look with a cloudy vinyl but it would be removable. Armour Etch says that it is dishwasher safe. I plan to using the etching cream on many more projects like vases, glasses, mirrors and kitchen bake-ware. There is so much potential!