Glass Dyeing and Etching

This is a crafty post, detailing how I snazzied up my memories jar. If you’re not sure what a memories jar is, check out this post where I talked about why it might be a good thing to have. 

So, memories jar=good. In theory. My problem was that my memories jar was just a recycled spaghetti sauce jar with the label peeled off, and a sad looking label from my digital label maker affixed to it, proclaiming to all who bothered to read “MEMORY JAR”. 

Functional, but not very pretty. Until I had a particularly quiet weekend, giving me the opportunity to make a new, pretty jar: 

A while back I purchased some glass stain from my local dollar store, which turns out to be made by a pretty reputable company. 

I used this glass stain, a washed up pickle jar, and some Martha Stewart etching cream to make my new pretty-in-blue memories jar. 

At first I used a foam paint brush to paint the inside of the jar with the stain, but after one coat it looked like this: 

Not very impressive in its blue radiance. So I scrapped that jar, got a new pickles jar (because I save them up, don’t you?), and started over. 

I made myself a rudimentary platform out of tin foil, a paper plate, a paper towel, and part of an egg carton: 

Then I poured the glass stain into the jar, rolled it around over the sink until the inside of the jar was totally coated, set it upside-down on top of my platform, and watched as the excess stain oozed out over the egg carton. 

I’m not going to lie, I should have let it sit like that for a day or so, but I didn’t. After only about 4 hours I tipped the jar right-side-up and allowed it to continue drying that way. As a result, there are lines from where the paint settled after changing dripping direction. I’m going to say it adds character. 

Oh, I also painted the lid white with about 4 coats of acrylic paint, then sealed it with an acrylic spray clear coat. 

I let the jar dry right-side-up for a while (umm… a week, just because life got a little busy again), then I set up to do my etching! I got Martha Stewart etching cream from Walmart, simply because in small-town Ontario, that’s all that was available. It was pricey in my opinion, but maybe I paid for quality. I read some other bloggers’ accounts of etching, and apparently having an inconsistent etching job is pretty common. My etching job was near perfection. Whether that was because of Martha Stewart or not, I can’t say. This is what I used: 

I applied some letter stickers to the jar, spelling out “Memories”. I also used some generic lined paper taped down not so carefully with painter’s tape to make a box around the lettering. I don’t suggest using painter’s tape. Use a spray adhesive and make sure you get thorough adhesion along the edge you’ll be using against the etching cream. Then you smear on a generous coat of the etching cream and wait. 

I waited 15 minutes, then I washed the cream down the kitchen sink *wondering what those chemicals are doing to the environment*. Peel off the paper and stickers, and be amazed! 

Because I did not ensure a proper seal where the paper met the glass, there are some areas the etching cream came into contact with the glass unintentionally.  But it’s nothing tragic. It’s something you notice when you look for it, but not a slap-you-in-the-face type of mess up. 

Anyways, I think it looks much prettier and happier than the plain old spaghetti sauce jar I used to use. I didn’t bother baking the jar after the glass stain dried because the instructions said I didn’t have to, but were I to do this project again, I would have baked it. It’s not very water proof. But it doesn’t need to be when it will only be holding little slips of paper on my desk!

Perfect, despite its flaws.