DIY Etched Glass Jar Gift for St. Patrick's Day

Ok so, Firstly, I created the design for my own stencil to etch on the Jar.

I reused an old jar but if you have empty mason jars will work too.

I also designed a cute tag as well.

For the Jar, I used this cute swirly clover from Silhouette Store and wrote:

“LUCKY YOU ARE MINE”

Then for the Tag, I decided to make it using my sketch pens. I used the Gold one and wrote:

“YOU ARE MY TREASURE”

Once it was ready I proceeded to cut the jar design first.

Since I didn’t have stencil vinyl material I used white vinyl instead.

Using my hook I weed all the inner design leaving all the rest in place because that is what will be etched.

Apply transfer tape to the design.

Placing the transfer tape on top of the vinyl. Use your scraper tool to smooth the transfer tape atop your stencil as you go.

Applying transfer tape to the design

Some air bubbles might remain, but as long as you smooth out the ones closer to the edges of your stencil, you should be good to go.

Then apply the stencil to the jar {or any glassware you are using}.

This is really the scariest part for me because the jar is all curvy and I wasn’t sure how it would adhere there. So, I just started with one end and tried to evenly apply the rest along the way making sure it was centered, then with a scraper tool to smoothly make it even across the whole Jar {glassware}.

Peel away the transfer tape really slowly just to make sure all parts of the stencil remain on the glass, If something didn’t, just put the transfer back, and with the scrapper do some pressure and peel back away. Then with a finger press out any air bubbles near the edges of your stencil.

Next step, apply the etching cream to your glassware.

The fun part!

It’s important that for this step you are using rubber gloves and protective glasses.

Also, it’s preferable to do this outside if possible or in a really ventilated area since this product contains strong chemicals and you don’t want to have any direct contact with it.

Lauren even recommends that if you ever get a headache while working with it, take a break. I didn’t thankfully!

Before following any of my instructions, make sure you read the manufacturer’s instructions for your safety.

Shake the bottle to smooth out any clumps and then tap out a generous amount of the etching cream onto the negative spaces in your stencil.

I followed Lauren’s advice on using a foam brush, it definitely gives more control over the spreading of the cream. Thanks, Lauren!!!!

applying etching cream with brush process image

Not sure if height affects the exposure of this project but I found myself leaving it like for over 3 to 4 minutes and as you can see the design is barely visible. Maybe the timing also varies between brands. Silhouette brand suggests 30 to 40 seconds.

Anyway, Once you have an even, thick coat of etching cream across your design, set your timer not less than 3 minutes! You would be amazed how quickly that goes by LOL.

You will feel like you haven’t even set the jar on the table when the alarm will go off.

Once your time is up, you can use your scraper tool to remove the excess cream from your design and put it back in the bottle…. Ooooh yeah, let’s not waste!

Then with a towel remove all the etching cream residues.

And finally, run the glass under some warm water in fiberglass or Stainless steel sink. Avoid doing this step on a porcelain sink as the cream may damage it.

Still wearing my gloves I removed all the cream and used a rag to dry it. It’s good to be careful not to take some cream onto places we don’t want to etched, it starts the process really fast, learned the hard way!

Now it’s time to remove the vinyl or stencil material. With regular vinyl, it doesn’t take much force but I’ve heard that with stencil material it’s a bit harder.

Wash your jar well and let it dry!

I learned that while wet I couldn’t see the design well, so wait until dry to see if it’s there. Here you have your etched glass jar!

I had this little problem with the jar lid because it had a logo and a plaid design. Not pretty.

So I fixed that super quick. Just placed a piece of a white vinyl circle a bit larger than the lid on the top.

Did some cuts from edges to the lid and fold those tabs to cover the sides.

Then with washi tape, I covered all the lid and did the same process for the sides.

With a cute green ribbon, I covered the sides. That’s it!!!! A cute Jar lid!

STEP 5: CREATING THE GIFT TAG

Ok so, Now to the Tag! 2 Tutorials in one! Cools isn’t it? Click to next page to keep crafting!

Once the design was ready, I defined what was going to be cut and what was going to be painted with sketch pens.

The tag shape and the hole for the ribbon set to cut and the frame, message, and clovers set to NO-CUT

Then without moving the tag either on the mat or on the Silhouette Studio I set up what I wanted to be in sketch pens.

I made these dashed lines around. Then placed a couple of clovers and placed my sentiment in the middle.

The thing is that I wanted my text and my clovers to be filled and for that, I found an awesome tutorial over at The Silhouette School. Melissa shows us 4 Ways to Fill Fonts with sketch pens. I not only used this tutorial for my fonts but for my clovers too!

I used the Offset way… It’s awesome!

Once your design is ready you need to zoom in really, really close!

With your design highlighted click the ‘Offset’ tool button and then select ‘internal offset.’ You’ll see the offset appear inside the letters.

The inset originally is too far away from the original outline, so we need to reduce the distance and drop that value down so the internal line is very close to the original outline.

Click apply.

It’s hard to see that there are two lines there but if you want a real fill it needs to be really close.

Working on the inset feature to fill the letters

Repeat this process again with an inset at a slightly further distance.

Be sure to click apply after every inset.

I did it about 5 times. From experience, I should have made the inset tighter but in the end, I liked the results =D.

The word completely filled with layers of insets

Just keep in mind that if you are zoomed in really close, you can see the tiny gaps between the lines but when you zoom out, check out what happens!!! =D Cool right?

For best results make sure you start out your design with the final size so you don’t have to resize and re-adjust the fill.

Then I just sent to cut {ehem to paint} {remember not to move your design or tag from place} specifying in the silhouette settings that I’m using sketch pens, and voila!

Now just use the same ribbon you used for your lid and make a knot, Insert the tag and make a bow! Tadaaaa!

You can fill the jar with anything you like… I used almond Hershey’s kisses because they were golden!

You are ready to go!!!!