Etching Baby Food Jars for SPICES!

Last night, my girl Dana came over for a little convo and crafting. With Nick working second shift, it’s a special treat to have a friend come over in the evening, and even more special when we get to be creative together!

And even MORE special when she brings Funfetti Cake mix and Smirnoff Cherry Limeade.

Yep, that happened. It was a delicious mess.

After cleaning up our disaster in the kitchen, we got to work on this little project! Dana, being our vinyl girl, has been known to also use her vinyls for etching glass… coolest thing EVER. This is one arena of creativity that I have n0 knowledge or experience whatsoever. So it was super fun for me to learn!

We started out with a bunch of baby food jars that I had stashed away for a rainy day. (Literally! It was raining outside too!) …As well as a few jelly jars.

Dana had cut a vinyl for me in advance, using the spices we have on hand.

The next step was to ‘weed’ out the parts of the vinyl that we WANTED TO BE ETCHED. It seems backwards, but it’s the right way!

We did this using a special tweezers with a tiny hook on the end to ‘grab’ the edges of each itty-bitty vinyl piece and pull them away.

This may have been tedious work for some, but I loved it. Strangely therapeutic. The good conversation didn’t hurt either. 

Next, Dana unrolled some ‘transfer paper’ and we pressed it on top, making sure all the bubbles were gone!

And cut each spice out with scissors.

Next, we peeled off the backing (leaving the sticky vinyl on the transfer paper), and carefully slapped her onto each jar jar… making darn sure it was straight first! And then we pressed it down real good.

…And slowly peeled off the transfer paper.

So what you see here, is the ‘stencil’ for the etching! EVERY step of this process was sooooo fun!!

Next, Dana broke out her special ‘etching compound’ … apparently you can get this at Hobby Lobby or Michael’s, or I’m guessing any crafting store.

Using a paint brush, we just globbed on the goop, making sure the areas of exposed glass within the ‘stencil’ were completely covered. This stuff is basically acid that’s eating away at the glass to give it that etching effect.

You’re supposed to leave this stuff on for about 7 minutes, so by the time we were done applying it to all the jars, it was time to wipe off the excess goop…

And simply rinse with water!

Then just peel back the vinyl…

So stinkin’ awesome, right? It’s beautiful and dreamy.

The aroma was a little overwhelming while transferring all our spices into their new homes! But the colors are so amazing.

As you can see, some of my spices need a refill! That another huge benefit to have clear jars… you know when you’re getting low. That way you’re not in the throes of making chili, and realize you only have a pinch of chili powder remaining!

So here’s my spice mess BEFORE:

And now! So chic and organized, right? RIGHT! (It was soooo difficult to try and capture the etching in the pictures! They really show up better than this, I promise!).

Anyone can totally do this! And I know Dana would be HAPPY to cut some custom vinyls for you, using exactly the spices you need! You can email her at dashoop@hotmail.com, or check out this post for more info and examples of various projects that we’ve utilized her vinyls! She’s the bomb-diggity.

Have you done any etching? We’d love to see your projects!