Etched Valentine Plates

The other day I found some square glass plates in the close-out section of our local grocery store. The large ones were $1, the smaller ones were $0.50.

Of course I had to get them – I knew I was going to do something with them, even though at the time I wasn’t quite sure what yet.

 

This is what I ended up doing!

Please excuse the wonky photos. I had the hardest time capturing the delicate edged heart against the light of the glass reflection on camera!

And it was really simple to do too!

 

First I created my heart in photoshop, imported it in my silhouette craft cutter, then cut it on some scrap vinyl.

If you don’t have a craft cutter, this simple kind of shape is easily cut from vinyl with a craft knife or sharp nail scissors!

 

Next I applied the vinyl to the BACKSIDE of the glass plate. If you are intending to use your finished product for decorative purposes only, feel free to apply it to the front, but I would like to use them for desserts, cookies etc, so I etched the back of the plate.

 

Don’t worry about the vinyl wrinkling on the large piece. It is hard to apply, so just go section by section, smoothing it out. You really only need to worry about the actual heart outlines being tacked down well with no wrinkles and bubbles, as the etching cream will seep under it and mess up the design. But the bubbles and wrinkles for the rest of the vinyl don’t matter at all!

For the heart outline only, you really need to be quite precise! No bubbles and no wrinkles on that one! It is much easier to apply than the larger piece however, so it’s not really a problem!

 

I applied the Glass Etching Creamliberally and let it set for about 5 minutes or so.

I washed the cream off, dried the plate, and voila! That’s it!

As you can see above I did two plates, the larger ones with the etched heart and the smaller ones with the entire plate etched, only leaving the heart clear. However, I wasn’t quite liberal enough with the etching cream on the smaller plate and it turned out a little streaky.

So, I have to go over it again to even out the etching around the heart! So remember, the etching cream really does have to be applied very liberally to get an even result!

I can see this being a decorative item, a dessert plate, or a plate for treats, even an inexpensive way to make a hostess gift more lasting by piling on some yummy goodies, wrapping it in cellophane with some ribbons etc Then once the goodies are eaten, there will still be a sweet reminder!

I intend to make a set of these for Valentine’s day and beyond

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