Glass Etching 101

"Would you like to see my etchings?"

A guy actually asked me that on a first date back in my college days. Turns out he was an artist and really did have a portfolio of etchings. I'm fairly sure he used that line a lot, though. Lame.

I have wanted to try glass etching for quite some time now, and it turned out to be really easy. I did learn some of it by trial and error, however, and I hope this post will prove to be helpful to those of you who want to try it.

The supplies you will need are:
Etching Cream
Glass stencils
Rubber gloves
Small stencil brushes
Lots of paper toweling
Something glass to etch onto (Dollar Tree has lots of options)

I found the etching cream and stencils at Michaels. Hobby Lobby has them as well.

Place the stencils on clean, grease-free glass, and make sure it adheres well.

Dab a generous amount of the cream onto the stencils. Be VERY careful not to go outside the stencil. You might want to block it off with tape. I had a mishap or two because I didn't use tape and some of the cream etched where it wasn't supposed to.

Leave it on for about 15 minutes.

Rinse it off in the sink. I know I don't have gloves on, but you are supposed to wear them.


We found these "Decorative Accents" at the Dollar Tree. They are some sort of polymer that absorbs water. We had to have them. Plus they were only a dollar.

They are marble-sized, and are very squishy and slippery.

The label says to keep them away from pets.


I sat a candle holder inside the glass I etched, and sprinkled some Decorative Accents in between. The extra designs you can see in this picture are what I did around the top on the other side.

It's really pretty when the candle is lit.

My friend Meagan came over the other night to do crafts with me. She etched a design onto a square candle holder.

Zac and Meagan's boyfriend, Dustin worked on candle holders as well.


This is Meagan's. I love her polka dot design. Such a creative idea.

Dustin actually poured candle wax into the container and made his own candle. The initials he etched didn't show up well, so he went over them with a red Sharpie. Very cool.

Zac poured his candle also, but first he colored some Decorative Accents with food coloring and poured them into the bottom. Then he poured in the wax. It turned out to be very interesting and volcano-esque. He outlined his letters with red Sharpie as well.

Oh, and thanks to Zac and Dustin, we know that Decorative Accents are not flammable.

Happy Etching!

Lemon Squares

This is a recipe that has been around for years and years. It is a creamy baked lemon curd with a buttery shortbread crust. I needed to make these for a tea last weekend and couldn't find my mom's recipe, so I decided to use this one from All Recipes. It was very close to what I remember of my mom's. (I altered it just a tad.)

Lemon Squares

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter, melted

4 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together 2 cups flour and confectioners' sugar. Blend in the melted butter. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light. Combine the sugar, baking powder and 1/4 cup of flour so there will be no flour lumps. Stir the sugar mixture into the eggs. Finally, stir in the lemon juice. Pour over the prepared crust and return to the oven.
4. Bake for an additional 20 minutes or until bars are set. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.


Bake the crust at 350º for 15-20 minutes.


Prepare the filling and pour into the crust.


After the first batch was tricky to cut, I lined the baking dish with aluminum foil. After it cools, you can remove it and cut it into very neat squares. Clean-up is easier, too.


Bake until the filling is set, and a very light golden brown, which will be about 20 minutes.


They are so good. And I'm not a fan of citrus.

But I love these.

Chicken Parmesan Mini Pizzas

I found this recipe in this Southern Living publication. I made them for an actual meal, but they would really be great for an appetizer.

Chicken Parmesan Mini Pizzas

1/2 pound fried chicken fingers (I used Publix)
Ragú Pizza Quick Sauce
1 loaf French bread
fresh basil, sliced and chopped
Italian cheese ( I used Sargento Artisan Parmesan and Romano)
melted butter

Slice chicken into small pieces.

Brush bread with melted butter and lightly toast at 350° for about 5 minutes.

Spread a small amount of sauce onto the bread. Top with chicken and basil.

Top with cheese and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

I served mine with a salad. These are delicious and very easy!

Create Your Own Vintage Bottle Brush Trees

I have always loved the look of tiny bottle brush trees, circa 1940's. I ran across a very nice blog called Hazelruthes and realized I could make them myself. It turned out to be one of my most favorite Christmas projects ever. I think it's because the transformation is so dramatic and the result is so magical.

I started with a large bag of these little trees. I got this bag of 21 trees at Michaels. With a 50% off coupon, they were $9.99. I have seen and used these trees for years and never realized they were actually bottle brush trees.

They are a kind of ugly dark green with snow-covered tips. Not too special.

You simply fill your sink or a bowl with clorox and leave them to soak.

They start bleaching out fairly quickly. The longer you leave them in, the whiter they become. You can pull the snow off at this point if you want to.

Soak in a solution of vinegar and water for a few minutes to neutralize the clorox smell. This is how they look when they are wet.

They look like this once they are dry.

Zac and Alex helped me.

We mixed different colors of liquid Rit Dye with water and dipped the trees into it. The longer we left the trees in, the more intense the color became.

One of my favorites is the pretty blue tree that Alex dyed.

Some of them looked rusty and a couple of them broke. I simply glued them back and dyed them extra dark colors. They turned out just fine.

To decorate, I lightly applied glue to the tips of the branches with a paintbrush, then poured pretty glitter onto them. (Shake off the excess, of course). I added small pearls to some of them.

I decorated my dining room table with them. Details coming in my next post.

Who would have thought that a simple bottle brush could be so pretty?

A Garland from Fabric Strips

This is a great way to use scrap fabric. This idea came from Homemade Simple. It makes a cute Christmas garland, but would also be nice in a nursery or a child's room.

I bought all new fabric for mine. I got 1/2 yd of 4 different fabrics. My garland ended up being about 2- 1/2 yards long.


You will need:
rope or twine, cut to the desired length of the garland (or a strand of twinkle lights)
strips of fabric (mine were about 3- 1/2" wide and 8" long)
ribbon, yarn, tulle, etc
lots of time

Cut your rope or twine to the desired length. I tied mine off at each end like a cowboy lariat.

Tear your strips of fabric and line them up assembly line fashion.

Simply tie them onto the rope one by one. I added ribbon, yarn, and tulle for interest and texture.

I cut the ends of the fabric with pinking shears once it was finished, but you don't have to.

I made it to drape onto the end of my guest bed.

The lariat loops on the ends were perfect for attaching it.

It adds a nice, cheerful, homespun touch. (Double-click the photo to see it more closely if you would like)

This project is somewhat time consuming, but is a perfect craft to work on while you are watching TV. It took me about 4 nights to complete it.

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...Tree!

I love white Christmas trees. They are so clean and beautiful. We have a traditional green tree in our den, but I began a quest last year for a white tree to go in our foyer. I actually found almost all the ornaments before I found the tree. The balls came from Target and I bought them after Christmas last year at 75% off. I really liked the colors: turquoise, purple, hot pink, gold, and bright green. Amby was with me and we were so distracted by Target's cool bargains that we lost track of time and almost missed a movie we were going to see. (We made it, though. Sherlock Holmes - really good) 50% off is great, but I truly love anything that is 75% off. It is then practically free, and very hard to pass up.

After a long and diligent search, I found this beautiful tree at Garden Ridge. It was originally $300. I paid $100 for it on Black Friday (are you supposed to capitalize black?). It was the last one, too. I absolutely love it. It turned out to be more beautiful that I had imagined.

Gil fashioned the continuous scarf up the stair rail.

An aerial view.
We decorated it with really fun ornaments, with our tiny Roman in mind. I wanted it to be magical. I LOVE this nostalgic Santa. I found him at Smith's Variety last year at 75% off.

Smith's also had these fun Dr. Seuss-esque ornaments...

...as well as these cute mittens.
Another whimsical ornament from Smith's.

A cute gingerbread man Zac picked out from Garden Ridge.

And, of course, sock monkeys!
This is a Martha Stewart kitty cat from Kmart last year. Her products are at Macy's now. I liked it better when they were at Kmart.


I still had these little mantel decorations from when I was little, circa 1960.

This Santa was part of the mantel scenario. My dad thought he needed a bag of toys, so he used one of his socks and filled it with kleenex. I'm so glad I still have it.

Sometimes it's fun to break with tradition and do something different for Christmas!