DIY Etched Glass Ornaments

Have you ever seen those beautiful etched glass ornaments? Making DIY etched glass ornaments is so easy. You must try it out this holiday season. You will not be disappointed. They are simple to make and take only minutes. Be prepared to answer the question, “Where did you get that?” anytime somebody sees it.

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Etch All the Things

Shortly after getting my first Cricut, I learned about glass etching. It was so simple and so pretty, that I decided everything needed to be etched. For Christmas that year, everybody received a cup or wine glass that I had monogrammed with my new glass etching skill. My go to wedding or shower gift was a glass cutting board. Of course, I had to etch their name or letter onto it. If it was glass, I wanted to etch something onto it. Nothing was safe.

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What Ornaments Can You Etch?

Any glass ornament can be etched. That being said, some are easier to etch than others. Anything flat is the easiest to make into DIY etched glass ornaments. I found flat glass ornaments at Micheal’s. The round balls work, but it is more difficult to get the stencil to lay down nicely. The discs that look like a flat ball would work though.

The glass etching cream works best on glass that isn’t painted or coated in any way. You can normally find clear glass ornaments at craft stores around the holidays. It will not work on acrylic or plastic. Glass etching cream is meant for glass. If you don’t have a Cricut or can’t use glass ornaments, try out these orange slice ornaments instead! A mason jar lid ornament is pretty durable if you have pets or little kids.

How to Make DIY Etched Glass Ornaments

Supplies

Stencil with sticky back

Glass ornament

Glass etching cream

Instructions

First apply the stencil to your ornament. Make sure it sticks down well and doesn’t have any bubbles. Pay extra close attention to the edges so that the cream doesn’t leak.
Apply a liberal coat of glass etching cream. Be careful to only apply it to areas that you want to etch. If you drip, wipe it up immediately. Then allow it to sit for about 3 minutes. The longer it sets, the better the etching turns out.
After 3 minutes, rinse away the cream and remove the stencil.

How to Create a Stencil for DIY Etched Glass Ornaments

If you wish to create your own stencils for some DIY etched glass ornaments, you will need contact paper, vinyl, and a Cricut. You can design a monogram in Design Space using any fonts on the Cricut or computer. Remember that you can always download new fonts for free online if you can’t find one you like in the system.

If you are wanting to create a picture, like I did, look for clipart. I found this one on Open Clipart. Typically, the simpler the image, the easier it will be to make. This process is a lot harder when there are lots of small pieces or lots of weeding.

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Cut out the design on some permanent or removable vinyl. I’ve even used contact paper to make the stencil and it turned out ok. Next weed out your stencil. Remember to remove the pieces where you want to etch the glass. It’s like the opposite of how we normally weed vinyl. Then use some contact paper to transfer it to the ornament. Transfer tape would work too, but I’ve found contact paper to work just as well for a lot less money. Make sure to rub everything down well after removing the contact paper.