Etching glass is one of my favorite crafts; it’s easy to do and everything you make turns out super classy and professional looking! I already shared a tutorial on how to etch glass, but this weekend I tried it on a new medium and it turned out great. So today I’m sharing how to make etched glass tile coasters!
These little coasters make great handmade gifts! I added cute flowers to these coasters, but you can add a monogram, or a family name, or anything else you can think of! Plus they only take about fifteen minutes to make and always end up looking professional.
How to Make Coasters with Glass Tile Etching
- Cricut Explore Air (or you can use a Silhouette Cameo or Portrait, or scissors or an X-Acto knife if you have steady hands)
- scissors
- paintbrush
- square glass tiles
- stencil vinyl and transfer paper (or contact paper and washi tape or masking tape)
- etching cream
- felt
- tacky glue
Start by cutting out a design from your stencil vinyl or contact paper. I chose a few flowers, but you can do a monogram, a name, or anything else! Weed away all the extra bits of vinyl to create a stencil. It’s a little hard to see in the photo below, but I weeded away all the parts of the flower, leaving a border of stencil vinyl.
If your stencil has lots of little pieces, or disconnected pieces, you can use transfer paper to transfer your stencil to the coaster. Peel the backing off the transfer paper and stick it to the stencil, then peel the stencil and transfer paper up off the backing. Place the stencil on your coaster, then gently peel away the transfer paper, leaving the stencil stuck to the tile. Press the stencil down super well along all the edges so you get nice crisp lines!
Then cover the stencil with etching cream. Make sure not to paint any etching cream off the edges of your stencil, or you will have extra etch marks!
Add a lot of etching cream to the areas you want etched; make sure it is piled up pretty thick!
The directions on the bottle say to let the cream sit for about five minutes, but I find the etch is more clear if you leave it on for about ten minutes instead. After about ten minutes, you can scrape the extra etching cream back into the bottle (carefully!) and then rinse off any etching cream residue with water.
Once the etching cream is rinsed off, gently remove the stencil vinyl from the tiles, and dry them off. And you have an etched glass tile!
To turn your glass tiles into coasters, just add some felt to the back to keep the tiles from scratching your table. Cut a piece of felt into a square about a quarter inch smaller than the tile. Squeeze some tacky glue onto the felt, then press it onto the tile. Set the tile aside for a little while to dry, and after about an hour, you have etched glass tile coasters!
Wrap them up in twine and give them as a gift, or use them for yourself!
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How To Etch Glass Tiles To Make Coasters
Equipment
- weeding tool
- paintbrush
- tacky glue
- etching cream
Materials
- 4 square glass tiles
- 1 sheet felt
- stencil material
- transfer tape
Instructions
How to etch glass tiles
- Using your cutting machine software, design a stencil for your coasters. Load stencil material into your machine and cut out your design.
- Weed away the background stencil material. Place a piece of transfer tape over your weeded stencil, press down firmly, then peel the backing paper off of the stencil material. Position the stencil on a glass tile and press down firmly to make sure all edges are sealed. Peel away the transfer tape.
- Using a small paintbrush, apply a thick layer of etching cream over all of the "holes" in your stencil. Be sure to "mound" it up and use a lot of etching cream for a clearer etched result.
- Wait for about 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, scrape the extra etching cream back into the bottle (carefully!), then rinse off any etching cream residue with water. Gently dry the coaster with a towel, peel up the stencil material, and you have an etched glass tile! Repeat for three more tiles.
How to turn glass tiles into coasters
- Cut a piece of felt into a square about a quarter inch smaller than the tile.
- Squeeze some tacky glue onto the felt, then press it onto the tile. Set the tile aside to dry for an hour. Then you're done!
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diane says
I have done this before, but never seen an tiles so pretty as the blue ones you picked up. Will have to keep my eye pealed for them when I go to store that have tiles…..
Jessi Wohlwend says
I found these at Home Depot!
Mary Gilbert says
What a great idea…..they are soooo pretty!
marissa | rae gun ramblings says
I’ve been wanting to try glass etching forever. I can’t wait these look awesome
Michelle from Weekend Craft says
Beautiful job Jessi! I haven’t tried armour etch just the silhouette version. I will have to try this.
Pam - GetSilvered says
The tiles are lovely. Coasters are such a practical gift and these ones look beautiful too.
Brittany says
So pretty! My favorite projects are the ones that look AMAZING and complicated but are actually so simple to make! You did a great job 🙂
–Brittany
Leah says
Jessi,
The coasters are awesome and so pretty. I found a tutorial once that also recommends wiping the cream in all directions to make the design uniform. I have done this and it does tend to help the project along. Now I need to find a pretty flower like this to make on a glass project.
Leah
diane says
What type of coasters did you use, as I have never seen any that pretty.
diane says
Actually maybe I should ask where did you get the tiles?
Jessi Wohlwend says
I got them from Home Depot! There’s a link in the Materials section to the exact tiles I used.
Ellen Christian (@ellenblogs) says
What a beautiful project! This would make a great idea for a hostess gift!
Kelly of Simply Kelly Designs says
Your coasters turned out great. I haven’t tried etching yet. Thanks for the tips about scraping it back into the bottle and leaving the cream on for longer than the instructions specify.