How to Glass Etch Casserole Dish using Your Cricut

Due to Covid-19 this years wedding season has been very small. A very good friend of mine is getting married in October and I, unfortunately, won't be attending. However, I wanted to make her something for a gift so that I could still show her how much I care. I love using my Cricut for all sorts of gifts. And what better wedding gift than a casserole dish {you can really never have too many}

Materials:

Cricut Explore Air 2
Premium vinyl
transfer tape
Scraper
Armour Etch
Paintbrush
Painters tape
Alcohol Wipe
Protective wear
Glass Casserole Dish

Directions:

I started with a casserole dish that I bought at Walmart. It was a 2 pack with a brownie size dish as well. {I can’t wait to etch onto that one as well} After taking it out of the packaging I wiped it down with an alcohol wipe. Whenever you are working with vinyl on glass it is always great to start with a clean surface.

I then jumped over to Cricut Design Space and uploaded the Mr&Mrs image that I created. I left the middle open so that I could use this image for multiple people and only have to change the last name in Design Space. Once the image is uploaded I then clicked the text button on the left. I typed the soon to be married couples last name and found the font I liked. I used the sizing feature to have it fit appropriately into the middle space. I also spaced out my letters a little bit to make it look more appealing. Be sure to center the name within the design by highlighting both the name and the image and clicking align: center horizontally. Then weld it all together.

Since I am etching onto a casserole dish and I want my etching to be able to be used with food I actually put my vinyl stencil onto the bottom of the dish so that food will not actually come into contact with the etched glass and hopefully keep it looking great. To be able to make sure that the image can be read from the right side of the casserole dish, I have to mirror my image before cutting.

I use Permanent vinyl when etching onto glass. I feel it creates a better seal and works much better when using it as a stencil. As long as you don’t wait too long before pulling it up there won't be any issues. Place your vinyl color side up onto your mat, load your mat, and cut.

When the vinyl is cut, unload your mat and reverse weed. Reverse weed is when you weed out the image that will be used as a stencil instead of weeding out the opposite when applying directly to a surface.

I then used Cricut transfer tape to apply my vinyl stencil to the bottom of the dish. I flipped my dish over and carefully placed the stencil onto it. Tip: be sure to note which way the letters already on the dish are going and place your stencil going the same way. It won't really matter but for some, it will be annoying to see it go opposite {I screwed this up- the pyrex lettering is upside down}

I was worried that my stencil wasn’t quite big enough and I would accidentally put the etching cream outside of the stencil. To give myself a little bit more space I put a frame around the stencil using painters tape.

Now it is the etching time! Put on your protective wear; gloves, eyewear, and apron. Using a paintbrush {I switched from foam brush to a regular paint brush-it was a lot easier to use} apply your etching cream to the stenciled dish. You don’t need much, a little goes a long way. The cream should stay on for about 5 minutes. While the cream is sitting on the dish continue to move it around. Just brush it back and forth and up and down the whole time.

After the 5 minutes is up go ahead and wash off the cream. If you used a lot of the etching cream you can scrape it off before washing it and put it back into the bottle to use it for next time. 

After the cream has been washed off and the dish is dry, remove the vinyl. This can get a little difficult because of using the permanent vinyl but I promise it will come off. I started with the big chunks and used my scraper to get everything else off. I, again, wiped it down with an alcohol wipe to clean off all the sticky residue from the vinyl.

And you are done! I am so excited to put a casserole cookbook and some personalized kitchen towels {using my Cricut of course} with this dish and give it to her as a wedding gift.

What are your favorite things that you have etched onto? Let us know if you have done any fun etching projects!

 CRAFTING IS THE BEST MEDICINE!

~Beth

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