Fresh Herbs

I found these cute squarish glass containers with tight fitting wooden lids at a local hobby store. What a cute container to store fresh or dried herbs.  As I did last month, I was going to look for an SVG file for my Silhouette cutting machine, but thought, many of you might not have a cutting machine. So, I decided to cut a stencil the old fashioned way, with an Xacto knife. I Googled free herb images, found a couple of nice ones, downloaded them into my computer and inserted them into a Word document. I decided on the 3 herb leaves and sized them to fit the front of the container, which was approximately 2” wide and 4” tall.

I played around with the design and decided it needed some words, so put them on top of the leaves. Then I copied the design on the page and printed out four of the designs. I cut out two of the designs and put them inside the containers, using tape to hold them in place to make a pattern for the vinyl. Also making sure that the wording was down far enough to not be in front of the lip of the wooden lid.

I taped the design onto two pieces of Self Adhesive Vinyl Sheet, available on the Etchall site.   I did not want to cut all the little points on the leaves, so I cut out a basic shape of the leaves with an Xacto knife.  The area for the words was just a large square space. After cutting out the design, I applied the transfer tape to the front of the design and removed the backing. Next step: apply the vinyl design to the thoroughly clean and dry glass.  As I always do, I made sure the transfer was securely attached and then I added some extra blue painters tape around the design in case I got the Etchall Cream where I did not want it. 

Now for the magic. I laid the containers down and applied the Etchall etching cream and set my timer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes I used the black plastic squeegee to scrape off the etching cream and put it back in the jar. (YES, you can reuse this cream over and over, Even if the color has turned from white to Chocolate!) Then, I removed the outer stencil and wiped the glass off with an unscented baby wipe, polished it with a paper towel and washed any remaining Etchall cream off the surface. 

The Etchall Cream took the glaze off of the glass and gave it some ‘tooth’ for me to apply color. Remember that I had taped the design to the inside of the glass so I could outline it onto the etched area.  I outlined the entire design onto the glass using a Sakura Identipen.  Just to make sure that the pen would not run, I did a quick spray with some Krylon Matte sealer. I got some DecoArt Glass Paint out and picked out 2 different colors of green for the leaves, filled them in and let them dry. A round brush and a water basin to rinse the brush are the only other supplies needed.  Once the paint was dry to the touch, I outlined the leaves and the lines on the inside of the leaves, and the words Fresh Herbs with the Identipen to make them pop. 

The DecoArt Glass Paint can be baked in the oven OR just set aside for a couple of days to dry completely hard. I did not bake the paint. I set it aside and let it cure on its own. I love this paint, as it is so creamy and the colors are so bright.

Remember to always use Etchall etching cream in your projects. It was voted the BEST by crafters. 

You can click below to order from the Etchall site and I will get a small stipend that will help me to keep giving you these free tutorials. Thanks.

I hope you enjoy this project. Always remember to “Have A Colorful Day”

Kathie Camara, 

Etchall Designer & Fused Glass Artist