Mom was inspired by an article she saw on etching, so naturally we had to try it. I had done etching before using a sandblasting machine in high school, but as we didn't have one of those laying around, we tried an etching cream called Armour Etch. It is pretty expensive, but the larger bottle will last for a lot of projects. Rather than using a pre-made stencil, we made our own by putting painter's tape directly on the glass surface and cutting out a patten with an exacto-knife. The bottle recommends letting a thick layer sit for 5 minutes before washing it away. After some experimentation, we decided to let it sit for 10 minutes, reapplying some extra cream after 5 minutes because it was hard to get the cream on thickly until it had some time to sit.
Mom etched grapes on a cool half-bowl to put utensils in for her grape kitchen. I'll have to bug her for a picture. It turned out so well! I etched "catnip" on one side of a bottle and paw prints on another for as a Christmas gift for Adam and Kait's cat. (Yes, the cat gets presents.) It is a bit hard to see after I put the catnip in the jar, but if they don't notice it right away, it will get slowly revealed as they use it. Considering what will be in the glass container is an important tip I will remember for the next project.
