Learn to etch wine glasses with this step by step tutorial and how to video. We’ll show you how to personalize wine glasses to make a great gift!
Hi Kenarry Readers! We’re Jennifer and Kitty from RunningWithSisters.com, and we have a terrific gift craft for you –– How To Etch Wine Glasses! We love making homemade gifts for the holidays, so this year we decided to etch wine glasses. If you’ve never etched glass with real etch cream, don’t worry. This cool DIY project is easier than you think!
We’ll show you how to create a custom design using regular stickers from the craft store. And we’ll show you how to do the etching using the etch cream. We have a complete video to show you every step. Follow along, then use the step-by-step instructions below to make your own DIY etched wine glasses. No one will believe you etched them yourself!
How To Etch Wine Glasses
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Materials
4 wine glasses
Scroll and swirl stickers (need to be die-cut, it’s the cut shape that will transfer to the glass)
Armour Etch Cream
Rubbing alcohol
Tools
Soft bristle craft paintbrush
Gloves
Scissors
Masking tape
Cotton swabs
Timer (cell phone)
Steps (To Etch One Wine Glass)
1. The first step is to create your design using tape and stickers. Apply masking tape to the stem to prevent the etch cream from etching the stem. This way you can focus the etched design on the globe of the wine glass.
Apply stickers to make the reverse of your design. Everywhere you place a sticker will remain clear, and the spaces between will be etched. When you pick out your stickers, pay attention to the shape of the actual sticker, not just the printed design. A fancy snowflake that is printed on a circle sticker will only etch a circle. It needs to be die-cut in the detailed shape of a snowflake to etch the snowflake shape. We chose scrolls and swirls to make our design, but you can choose any design you want!
2. Once you have your stickers applied, clean the glass between the stickers using a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol. This will remove any fingerprints, which would otherwise be etched into your wine glass, and who wants that!
3. Now you are ready to get down to the magical part –– the etching! Put on your gloves. Read the directions on your etch cream. Our etch cream recommended using a soft bristle paintbrush.
Paint a thick layer of etch cream over the globe of the wine glass, covering the stickers entirely so you can’t see your design through the etch cream. Let the etch cream sit on the glass for one minute, then rinse off under running water until all of the etch cream appears to be gone.
4. Remove the masking tape and stickers, then rinse the glass again. When the glass dries, you will be able to see your etched design clearly. Wow!
This is a great way to personalize wine glasses or cocktail glasses with names or sayings. Just use alphabet stickers to create your design. Remember if you have any questions about how to do this project, leave us a comment and we’ll reply. We are here to help!
Happy Crafting,
Jennifer & Kitty
Here are a few more gift crafts from the O’Neil Sisters:
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What’s Next?
While you’re here, be sure to check out these other craft projects on Ideas for the Home by Kenarry® –
Have you ever done this on colored wine glasses?
Rebekah Gray
We haven’t done colored glasses, but if the glass is really colored glass it works! We found a colored glass project on etchtalk.com and the said, “Please Note: Our project glass is made of real colored, green glass. If you decide to use a colored glass, make sure it is real glass and not just colored on the surface. If it is only colored on the surface, Etch Cream will not work. Use Sand Etch for topically colored glass.”
Hope that helps!
Jennifer & Kitty
Is the finished wine glass safe to use in dishwasher?
Great question, Donna! According to the product listing on Amazon for Armour Etch Cream, the etched designs ARE dishwasher safe. So as long as the glassware itself that you’re etching is also labeled as dishwasher safe we believe you should be good to go! Good luck and happy crafting!
Best wishes,
Carrie
Ideas for the Home by Kenarry®
Can us vinyl on the glass to make the design
Hi Dianne,
Yes, you can use vinyl to make your design. Vinyl are essentially just DIY stickers. Good luck with your project! Please let us know how it turns out for you.
Best wishes,
Carrie
Ideas for the Home by Kenarry
Can you just put one single letter on the glass
Hi Nancy,
Yes, you sure can. You can either put a letter sticker on the glass and etch around it – the letter will stay clear. Or you can create a stencil using the part of the sticker that’s usually left on the page. Stick that stencil to the glass and then just apply the etching cream to the letter part.
Good luck with your project!
Best wishes,
Carrie
Ideas for the Home by Kenarry
This is an awesome idea!! I have been doing some etching on a few things just simple things but never thought of reverse technique. Also thank you for telling us (dummies) about sand etching! I have tried it on colored glass and nothing happened or couldn’t see anything worth bragging about. Can’t wait to try both projects!!
Hi Debbie,
We’d love to see photos of how your etching projects turn out! Thanks for stopping by.
Best wishes,
Carrie
Ideas for the Home by Kenarry
Where did you find the swirl and scroll stickers?
Hi Karen, great question! You can find them on Amazon! The link is under the list of Materials in the tutorial above.
Best wishes,
Carrie
Ideas for the Home by Kenarry
I have stemless wine glasses with decals on them from the grocery store. Can I just use the etching cream over those decals?
Hi Laurie,
Great question! Do you think you can peel the decals off the wine glasses without leaving a sticky residue? If so, then it will probably work. If these are wine glasses you don’t like anymore or aren’t using — or didn’t cost much and can easily be replaced, then I’d say GIVE IT A TRY! What’s the worst that can happen? Test it out with one and let us know how it goes.
Happy crafting!
Best wishes,
Carrie from Ideas for the Home by Kenarry
We agree with Carrie, remove the decals before etching, if possible. If there is any sticky residue, you could try Goo-Gone to remove it. Just be sure to wash the glasses again. They need to be thoroughly clean before etching.
Hope that helps!
Jennifer & Kitty
Where can I find letter stencils for glass? My sister and I want to create wine glasses as 2020 gifts with a saying on them (‘You got to let that shit go’)
Perfect for a wine glass, huh?
I have searched online but dont think I’m using the right search words…
Donna from Nevada
Hi Donna,
For a custom phrase like that, I would recommend you create your own stickers using a vinyl cutter like a Cricut or a Silhouette. If you don’t have one of those machines or aren’t familiar with them, you can probably find an Etsy seller who can make one custom for you. If you really want individual letters, try searching for “alphabet stickers” or “letter stickers” rather than “stencil”
That being said, I’m not sure how well letters will show up with etching. You may want to hand paint them on. You can see how to do that in this tutorial that I created.
We’d love to see photos of how your project turns out. With as crazy as 2020 has been, your friends are going to LOVE these gifts.
Best wishes,
Carrie
Ideas for the Home by Kenarry
Good luck with your craft project!
Best wishes,
Carrie