Etched Glass Coasters - {Tutorial}

Hey there!

My name is Melysa and I am just thrilled to be sharing this guest post with 

Courtney and the Between U & Me readers!

A little bit about me; I am a wife, successful career woman, and 

(most importantly) a mom to a handsome, almost 5 year old little man. 

Boy how time flies.  I have a little blog called 

Moments With The Montano's 

where I share crafts, recipes, helpful tips and decor ideas.

I hope you like this post and come over to visit!

One of my favorite hobbies is working with glass in all forms; 

stained glass, fused glass, mosaics, etc.

Today I am sharing a tutorial on etched glass drink coasters.

Below is how I make my own tiles, but you can also purchase 

clear glass 4 inch square tiles at any of the large

home improvement stores.

I start with a large sheet of glass.

I cut it into 4 inch strips, and then cut again to make a 4X4 inch square.

I am cutting 4 tiles for a set of coasters.

Here is my cut square.  You can see the sharp edges.

I pop the squares into my glass kiln for 4 hours to

polish the edges smooth.

The blue you see below is called kiln wash, it prevents the glass 

sticking to the kiln.

Here is the tile after it's been fire polished.

You can see how the edges are rounded, like a tile.

It's also not sharp any more and has a slight texture.

This is the stencil I will be using to sand etch the tiles.

I love damask!

Here is the same stencil, (after I tested some blue paint) and I have added gray masking tape

to the areas that I do not want on my final coasters.

This is a picture of the same tile, flipped over.

The tape on the tile is just to keep the stencil centered and in place during etching.

Speaking of the etching, I like using Sand Etch.

It is made by Amour Etch, the acid etch paste, but this is 

environmentally friendly and non-toxic.

It can be found at most craft stores.

It is a 3 part system; sand, canned air and a connector piece.

Here it is assembled.

The sand can get messy, so just grab a box, place your project inside and spray away.

You can collect the sand once you are finished and reuse.

Five passes of the spray and here is the results.

A beautiful etched finish.

Repeat the tape up and spray process for the remaining tiles.

Rinse off, dry and add clear rubber feet to the bottom of the tiles 

and you are all set!

Package up with a pretty ribbon (perhaps a bottle of wine) and 

you have a great gift.

Thanks again for having me and I hope you all enjoyed this tutorial.

XOXO