Mother's Day Etched Vase Tutorial

Keira is here today with a fantastic and inexpensive way to personalize a gift for Mother's Day... or a birthday, or any day really!

One quick note: I used my Silhouette to cut the words for her out of contact paper, but if you don't have access to a fantastic machine like that (my condolences!), you can print the letters/shapes from your computer and then trace and cut them with an x-acto knife on the contact paper, or you can also pick up some stickers at the craft store (or dollar store) and etch around the letters/shapes instead of the letters themselves, like this.

Trying to find a personalized Mother's Day gift? One that hasn't been done before? Or is simply cheap? Look no further, my fellow crafters! I bring you the etched vase--personalized with adjectives and/or nouns that describe your lady, or just a beautiful, simple design to spice up your dollar-store vase. :) Enjoy!

Before I begin with this tutorial, I beg you to use gloves as you work with the etching cream! If you don't believe that the cream can be dangerous, I ask you to glance over this article on it.

What you'll need:

A pair of gloves that can get wet (I use just standard clear plastic food prep gloves)

A pair of scissors

An exact-o knife or something sharp and pokey to pull out the words and/or pictures

Glass etching cream

Plenty of Q-tips

Glass cleaner and paper towels

A vase (duh!), I bought mine at the Dollar store. I saw the same one at Hobby Lobby for $5.99!

Your letters or pictures cut out of vinyl or contact paper

A towel, drop-cloth or plastic bag to cover your work area

What you'll do:

Make sure your words or pictures are correct. Is the spelling of all your words correct? Once you etch them, they're there forever.

Cut out each word or shape from contact paper and place on the vase. I etched the positive space (the words themselves) so I removed that part of the cut design. If you'd rather etch the negative space (the background or non-word part), remove that part of the design. The etching cream will etch whatever is NOT covered by the contact paper.

Clean the vase well with glass cleaner so there are no smudges or fingerprints.

Place the words carefully and make sure there are no bubbles or wrinkles.

Now (using gloves!), cake your cut-outs in etching cream with the Q-tips.

Let stand for as long as you wish--from 5 minutes to 30 minutes. The longer the cream stays on, the deeper and more visible the etch. I left mine on for about 10 or 15 minutes, and I wish I would have left it on longer.

Then scrape the cream off and dump back into the bottle (did you know you can use it over and over??), and rinse in the sink with gloves!

Now remove your vinyl or contact paper and wipe clean and voila! Your own personalized vase! Just deliver with flowers on Mother's Day and you're the talk of the town! :)

What I would do differently:

As I said before, I would leave the cream on longer for a deeper etch. You can see with this vase, the lettering is hard to read!

Secondly, I'd pay more attention to how I painted on my etching cream. I accidentally went "outside the lines" and etched a blotch on the vase. Once you do it, you can't undo it, so be careful and deliberate!

For other ideas:

Don't be limited to vases. Here's a frame I etched with a spiritual quote and a picture of Christ, appropriate for a baptism, wedding, christening or blessing, or an Easter gift. Insert a picture of your family in place of Christ with a quote or song unique to your clan. :) Anything that is glass is up for grabs! Happy Mother's Day crafting to you all!