Etched Window tutorial

Thanks to everyone who voted for me at SYTYC. I won the Home Decor theme with this project. This weeks theme is Jewelry. Go vote HERE.

I have a lot of short windows in my home. The kind that are awkward to hang curtains from. Not that I would want curtains anyways. I love having a lot of light. The problem is that I live in the city where all the homes are really close together. I don't love looking out my windows and straight into my neighbors. I needed something that could give us privacy, but didn't block the light.

I've been looking at stained glass for a while, it's not in the budget and I was having trouble finding the right colors. That is how I came up this etched window. Using a store bought frame and etching gel I have the perfect window coving for all my trouble spots.

It works great above our coat rack, a place where curtains obviously wouldn't work.

I love how it hides the ugly view of the apartments next door.

Here is how I did it:

What I used:

-A frame with glass (I got mine from Ikea. They were the only ones who sold a square in the size I wanted).

-spray paint (not needed if you don't want to change the color of frame).

-contact paper

-scrapbook paper or fabric with a printed pattern you want to use for you design.

-exacto knife

-etching cream ( I used Armour Etch)

-plastic gloves

This is the frame I used, I painted it white.

I used this piece of scrapbook paper for my pattern.

Step 1: I removed my glass from the frame and applied contact paper over the top.
I left a small boarder around the outside.
Step 2: I lined my scrapbook paper up with the corner and started cutting away the negative space in the pattern with my exato knife.
I traced the design with the knife and then peeled it away.
The scrapbook paper was about 1/4 of the size of the glass pane. I had to move it around to finish the pattern.

Step 3: Once the pattern was cut from the entire pane, I applied the etching cream. I followed the directions on the bottle, but added 5 extra minutes to the wait time. Make sure you use gloves and don't rinse your etched glass in a ceramic sink, it will dull the finish.

After rinsing the glass, I dried it, cleaned it with windex and placed it back in it's frame.

*This was a small intricate design. It took me about five hours to cut away the pattern. I did it over a few days. Using a larger and more simple design would make it quicker and easier.