Most people see a beautifully etched-glass design in a fancy shop or on a shower door in an expensive custom built home and wish they could afford to do something like it. Maybe you’ve been to a wedding where the bride and groom had custom champagne glasses made. Maybe you wanted to etch all of your power tools with your name. I’m sure you have seen glass or metal coffee mugs with a custom logo engraved on them. Have you ever wished you could do that?

If you have ever looked into ordering custom glasses you will find that there are so many charges. You can’t just get 2 champagne glasses or 5 mugs. You have to order a minimum quantity, usually 50 or more. Then you pay an extra fee to have your design created and made into a stencil. The company you purchase from then wants to hold you to a exclusive contract for providing those items. You do not get to keep the stencil you paid for; They keep it under lock and key. If you ever want to get more items engraved with that stencil you are stuck going through that company and paying whatever they want to charge or you have to pay another company to make a new stencil. Yikes!

The solution is to make your own. In the past, making your own stencils to etch-glass with was time consuming and difficult. Once you had a design, you had to print it on strong paper. Then you had to use an exact-o knife and very carefully cut out the design. One slip of the knife and you had to start over. It was tedious job and a major strain on your eyes, hands and neck. And after all that work it was only good for a few applications!

I’ve been in the etching business for over 41 years and I decided that there had to be a better way. I studied different materials and designs until I made a break-through. Now you can create your design on the computer using any graphics software you prefer and print it onto a transparency. Then you use my custom designed unit to make a permanent universal stencil that can be used for both glass or metal etching. There is no limit to the designs you can make.

In fact, these stencils can be used with water-based acrylic paint for putting your design on practically anything. I’ve even used them to make custom t-shirts for my grand-children. If you just need one stencil contact me because I can make your custom stencil for you in my shop.

There are so many great crafts one can do at home but few can actually turn into a business. Etching is both a fun hobby and a money-maker. Many of my customers start out etching as a hobby but soon find that their friends, family and neighbors love their work and ask them to etch things for them. My family loves the etched ornaments we send out each Christmas. What could you do with it?