Glass Etching with Cricut

I havent done glass etching since I was a pre-teen. When I bought my cricut expression it came with a package of goodies so the other day I decided to do an etching project. Since I moved a few months ago I havent put up many pictures and I had two large square frames from Ikea with no pictures in them. This was the perfect size for the image I had.

I used the cricut expression to cut a cute phrase out of vinyl. I positioned it on the cutting mat so I would have two seperate pieces. Normally you would take off the background and be left with your image. To use as a stencil you want to take out the image to be left with an outline. *Be careful when removing pieces like the "a" and "b" etc where there is a small piece left in the middle, you want to ensure this doesnt pull off with the rest of the letter. Tweezers or any other small instrument is helpful for this.

If you havent used transfer tape before, it isnt very difficult and is much easier than trying to peel off and apply the vinyl by hand. Cut a piece large enough to cover the entire phrase. Rub the surface to ensure it has adhered to the vinyl. 

Now flip the piece over and peel off the backing. Watch carefully while removing and if a part of vinyl stays on the backing, lay it down a bit and rub that area so it sticks to the transfer tape.

The vinyl and transfer tape are now together and ready to apply to your surface. *Again notice the small pieces inside the "o" "b" etc are in the correct position.

 I wanted the words to be over the matted frame and not cover the image inside. When I applied the vinyl stencil I placed the paper frame underneath to help position it correctly.  Rub the image again to help the vinyl adhere to the glass, then peel off the transfer tape.

Next you apply a thick layer of etching cream and follow the directions on the bottle. Mine sat for 5min before I washed it off.

I pulled off the larger pieces of vinyl easily but was left with the little inside pieces. Using a utility knife or exacto knife helps to get these off.

Here is the finished project. I hung it above the toilet in my bathroom. The shower curtain is also blue and it looks beautiful!

 Here is a closeup of the etching. Its a bit difficult to photograph.