So I am not naturally good at making crafts. This one is fairly easy to manage so if I can manage it you can manage it. Give up on making it perfect and lean into making it fun! In my case it is an AMAZING bonding opportunity for my daughter and I to create something together. She helped me throughout this entire process and it turned out perfectly imperfect. 

 

I actually ended up doing this project three times because I could just not get it right. The first time I used the brand OXO for the casserole dish and the Armour Etch did not work on that dish. The second time I completed the project but knew it could be better. So there will be photos from two projects in this blog, the fail and the success. I pivoted and changed the design I wanted. The snowman is the failed project & the stockings is the successful one!

 

Materials used 

Removable Vinyl 

Cricut Machine 

Super cute 9 year old helper 

 

Measure your dish to make sure you get the correct sizing for your image in Design Space

 

 

I used a rectangle that I enlarged to the size of the dish as the base image then added the other images I chose on top of it, this makes it easy to make sure the images are the correct size for the dish. 

 

 

Choose any vinyl that you want to as you are just using it as a stencil. I used removable to make it easier to peel off once I am done with it. 

 

 

When you put your other images on top of the rectangle you will want to go to the bottom right hand corner to choose combine and then choose subtract. This will make it so when your Cricut cuts the project it will create a stencil and remove the image and writing from the rectangle. 

 

 

 

 The first one that I made I did not remember to mirror the image. You're supposed to be able to see the image and read it when looking down into the dish. So that's an important step!

 

Not Mirrored ^^^ (Failed project) 

 

 

The first time I made this project I used transfer tape which is usually the way to go for most projects. I found that when I was trying to pull the transfer tape up it pulled up a lot of the vinyl so it did not create a perfect seal which made some of the Armour Etch bleed underneath the vinyl a bit. The second time I made this project I just slapped it on the dish as best as I could after weeding and that worked out just fine. 

 

 

You should probably be wearing gloves while applying the Armour Etch and you should probably put tape around the exposed glass so you don't accidentally get Armour Etch anywhere unintentionally. I did not do either of those things.

 

Use a paintbrush to spread a good amount of Armour Etch onto the vinyl and keep moving it around with the paintbrush. I left it on there for a good ten minutes. Honestly not sure what the recommended timeframe is but this worked for me. 

 

(Failed project) ^^^

 

You are able to re-use Armour Etch so scoop as much as you can with a paintbrush and put it back in the jar for next time. Then use a damp washcloth or paper towel to get the rest off before you remove the vinyl. The first time I tried this I took off the vinyl right away and I think that's why some of it smudged a bit. 

(Failed project) ^^^

 

 

 

 

Have your super cute 9 year old weed the vinyl off of the dish. I decided the red vinyl I chose didn't look that bad and kind of added to the Christmas look I was going for. Since it is on the outside of the casserole dish I kept it on. This is a gift for my mom so I will let her know that if it starts to come off just pick it off and it will still look good. 

 

 There you have it! Super easy beginner project that is actually really neat and unique. Perfect for a gift. If you are feeling nervous about starting a project just remember that its alright to mess up and try again! There is definitely a learning curve and more than one way to do things!

 

 

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