BEE MY HONEY by Kathie Camara

Since it is getting close to Valentines Day, I wanted to make something unique with a heart in the design. I found this cute little Honey jar with a wooden spoon at our local craft store, and decided to Bling it up.

Right before Christmas, I found a great deal on an Ikonart stencil machine. I hadn’t even taken it out of the box, but I had watched a dozen videos on how to create the stencils for either silkscreening or etching a design. So I found some cute free clipart designs and I created a stencil on my Ikonart and sized it to fit on the Honey jar. 

After cleaning the jar with glass cleaner, I attached the vinyl to the jar. With this type of a stencil, you don’t have to remove any parts. The Ikonart UV light burns them away and leaves your design ready to use.  I applied the Etchall etching cream and set my timer for 15 minutes. With the plastic squeegee tool, I scraped off the etching cream and put it back in the jar. (YES, you can reuse this cream over and over?) Then, I removed the stencil and wiped the glass off with an unscented baby wipe, polished it with a paper towel and washed it to completely remove the etching cream.  (Do not wash in a porcelain sink as the cream will etch the sink.) 

I made sure to wash the cream off the stencil, too and put it on its’ backing vinyl so I can use it again. Although I had to etched the separate designs, the words etched nicely. 

I wanted to add some color to the words and the Etchall gave the glass just the right amount of ‘tooth’ to hold the Rub ‘n Buff Wax Metallic Finish on the surface. Of course I used the Gold Leaf. 

I used a Q-tip to apply the wax to the etched areas. Then I cleaned up around the words with a soft cloth and buffed the wax. If you leave the wax on a bit longer than a few seconds, you might have to use some alcohol on the cloth to get it off the glass. 

I now have a really cute little Honey jar to give to someone for Valentines Day.