How To Personalize A Glass Pitcher Into A Terrific Gift This Year

Having one just for water feels very fancy. I fill it with lemon or orange slices and it looks so pretty. But the prettiest ones I’ve seen lately are glass etched with a monogram. Oh, my!

I thought that glass etching was hard until I did it recently on my pyrex dish and since then I’ve been making many other etched glass wedding gifts.

This etched glass pitcher is not just for wedding gifts, but a great gift for anyone, all year round.

Plus, these  easy DIY etched glass ideas are just the starting point to your etched wedding gifts and DIY etched gifts… once you make one, you’ll be hooked!

Plus, it’s such an impressive (expensive looking) gift. Don’t worry, you’re secret is safe with us that you paid a lot less than you should have.

They are so quick to make, you could make use them for super quick gifts that you need today! Gotta love that!

This post is part of our 30 Days of Homemade Gifts Series. 30 gifts that are easy (and cheap) to make, but also something you’ll be proud to give.

Each Homemade Gift has to meet 5 stipulations in order to maximize your money and make it easy for a busy mom to do:

1. Easy to obtain supplies –  Supplies are things you might already have on hand or are easy to find at Walmart or a craft store so you can get them in the same day you want to make it.
2. Easy to make –  Supplies are easy to work with or use so that anyone could do it… not caustic… so you could do the craft with your kids.
3. Quick to make –  It can be made in 30 minutes or less so it’s possible to make this gift in the middle of the night with products you most likely already have on hand. (Note: The 30 minute guide is your “hands on” time, dry time is excluded.)
4. Cheap to make – You should be able to make the project without spending more than $10.
5. Substantial – Each gift is “big” enough that you’ll feel confident giving it alone and not having to add a gift card to it.
   BONUSES:
   Multiple uses –  Multiple gifts can be made out of the same supplies giving you options to use up all the supplies you buy.
   Saving Money Double Bonus: Try to think about what you already have on hand to upcycled and save more money.

So are you ready to learn how easy it is to make this etched glass pitcher? Let’s do it!

Supplies:

• Glass Pitcher or Glass Carafe (prices start around $15 on Amazon or Walmart) (I found mine at a thrift store for $2.99)
• Armour Etch 3 oz – $9.99 (@ Michaels, use 40% coupon to get it cheaper)
• Paint brush
• Stickers as either your design or as the template for your design (prices start at $1.99 @ Hobby Lobby)
• Printed Design or Monogram
• If using your own printed design you’ll need: Contact paper or Stencil blanks (prices start at $1.99 @ Hobby Lobby)
• If using Contact Paper: X-Acto Knife (prices start at $4.59) or Swivel Knife ($5.99 – goes 50% Off @ Hobby Lobby)
• If using Contact Paper: Cutting mat
• Paper towels
• Masking Tape
• Rubbing Alcohol

Creating Your Glass Pitcher Design:

Option 1: Stickers Or Sticker Outlines

First, you will need to find stickers that will work for the size of your glass pitcher. Make sure they are the right size and shape. I got my stickers on clearance at Hobby Lobby. They are 2 inches tall.

Note: If you are going to do a monogram or name, make sure that not only do they fit, but that the stickers or sticker outlines are the actual shape that you want. You have to pay attention to the outline of the shape that will appear after the etching cream has been wiped away.

Option 2: Contact Paper

Find or create a design you want to use on your glass pitcher. Make sure the design is simple and that the cutting areas are not too thin.

Print out your design and trace onto contact paper. Cut your piece of contact paper bigger than your design by at least 1-2″. This will help the contact paper adhere to your project without allowing any etching creme to seep into areas where you don’t want it to go.

Directions:

Before you begin you’ll want to wash and dry your glass to remove any fingerprints, oil and residue.

Etching cream is easy to work with, but it does start to make a mark right away. Keep your paper towels handy just in case because any drips need to be wiped off immediately!

It will take a full 15 minutes to fully etch the design in the glass. Check the directions on the cream you use, my cream said it would take 15 minutes and I wanted to see what it would look like after longer time. It didn’t look any different when I left it on for 30 minutes and an hour, so 15 minutes will surely suffice.

Step 1: Apply Your Stickers or Stencil

Apply the stickers or stencil where you want the etching to occur. You could use the “positive space” of the sticker to create an etch around the words you use, OR you could use the “negative space” to etch the actual words.

In this example I used the negative space to make my etching of the letter K standing for the first inital of my last name, Kiefer.

Step 3: Apply Etching Creme

Quicky before you apply the cream, use the rubbing alcohol wipe where the etching creme will go. This will make sure that the etching cream will do it’s magic.

Start to apply the etching creme to your glass pitcher with your paint brush.

Make sure you get enough on the glass so that it completely covers your design. I glopped it on good and tried to make it pretty even.

Don’t forget to start your timer with how long the etching directions say it needs to sit.

Step 4: Wash Glass

Once the timer goes off, wash the glass under warm water and rinse off all the etching creme completely.

You are going to love how this DIY etched glass pitcher turns out!

What does it cost?

• Glass Pitcher or Glass Carafe (prices start around $15 on Amazon or Walmart) (I found mine at a thrift for $2.99)
• Armour Etch 3 oz – $9.99 (@ Michaels, use 40% coupon to get it cheaper)
• Paint brush – $1 (@ Dollar Tree)
• Printed Design or Monogram
• Contact paper or Stencil blanks (prices start at $1.99 @ Hobby Lobby)
• Stickers as either your design or as the template for your design (prices start at $1.99 @ Hobby Lobby)
• X-Acto Knife (prices start at $4.59) or Swivel Knife ($5.99 – goes 50% Off @ Hobby Lobby)
• Cutting mat (prices start at $5.99 @ Hobby Lobby)
• Paper towels
• Masking Tape
• Rubbing Alcohol

Total Cost: As Low As: $8.98 (thrift store pitcher & etching creme)

You can see just how easy this etched glass pitcher is to make for etched wedding gifts!

Besides design time, it should take you less than 20 minutes to make this etched glass pitcher. Isn’t that so fast?!

And since these DIY etched glass ideas are so quick to make, you can even make and give them TODAY as gifts. Gotta love that!

YOUR TURN: Who are you going to make an etched glass pitcher for this year? I’d love to know if you think this is a fun idea. Let me know in the comments below!

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