DIY Monogrammed Champagne Flutes - an easy glass etching tutorial

Happy New Year!

Wow - I am already behind on blogging! There is so much going on, but I wanted to make sure to wish everyone a fantastic 2014! 

Let's pop back in time to Dec. 31st:  My house was busy preparing for New Years Day, when we always host a big luncheon followed by board/card/party games. This year we thought it would be fun to send everyone home with monogrammed souvenir champagne flutes. 

This is a super-easy project that makes a great impression. I totally recommend giving it a try. While there are instructions in the kit & online, let me walk you through it. 

Supplies (most are in the top photo) include:

*Etching cream (in kit)

*Small brush (in kit)

*Gloves (in kit)

*Adhesive stencils (The kit has butterflies but I wanted letters, so I bought those separately. You can make your own stencils. I have before, but I must say that these ready made adhesive backed ones were such a time saver. They are also reusable,) 

*Tape (I used painter's tape)

*Ruler

*Rubbing Alcohol (I was out & used nail polish remover, which worked.)

*Soap & Water

*Paper towels or dish towel

*Glasses

First wash and dry the glasses. Then wipe the area to be etched with rubbing alcohol to remove any oils that could block the etching cream. 

Measure where you want the stencil to go. The adhesive stencils were easy to use. Simply peel them off the backing paper and stick to the glass. Rub the edges of the stencil a bit with your fingernail to make sure there are no bubbles. Apply tape to the edges to give your glass a little protection in case things get messy. Once the cream is applied it will eat away at the glass it is touching, so you want to make sure you control where it lands. 

We decided to monogram each guest's glass with their first initial. 

In a few cases 2 glasses had the same letter, so I etched a tiny leaf on the base to tell them apart during the party.

Give the etching cream bottle a good shaking, put on the gloves, and use the brush to apply the cream to the stencil. If you get cream in the wrong place, wipe it off right away with a paper towel. At first I was a little freaked out as it was runnier than I expected. In the past I'd used a white pasty goo (armour etch, maybe). A trip to Google & a test glass eased my concerns.

Leave the cream on for 15 minutes. I found that a little longer was not a problem. 

While waiting I ducked into the dining room to see what the guys were up to. They were making cappelletti pasta (meat filled "little hats") for the next day's soup course. It is traditionally a northern Italian Christmas dish. We usually don't have enough visitors then, so we serve it New Years Day.

Times up! Put your gloves back on and rinse off the etching cream. Some running water and a wet paper towel will do the trick. Then remove the tape and stencil & wash glass thoroughly with soap and water. 

Set aside to dry. In the meantime, toss the tape but rinse off the stencils and set aside. Once dry they will still be sticky on the backside can be reapplied to the clear backing for storage.

Here are some of the bases with leaves.

And the etched lettering.

We decided to make a game with the extra flutes and etched some extra letters. The next day we set the table with the glasses all jumbled in the center.  The guests were told to find "their glass" and pour themselves some bubbly. They asked about the leftover glasses & we mumbled something about cancellations. 

As expected, when my husband and I popped into the kitchen some fidgety folks started rearranging the glasses to form words. One person spelled & shouted out "Lucky You"!  (our plan all along) & we had a winner! She took home a copy of R&R Games' pirate game, Plunder

and a lovely clove scented candle from Tampa company 7th Avenue Apothecary .

A grand time was had by all, the game was a really fun way to start the year and the etching was so easy to do. I totally recommend giving it a try.