Geek Crafts: Recycled DON’T PANIC Drink Set

Welcome to the Geek Crafts column, your weekly dose of geeky goodness with Haley Pierson-Cox from The Zen of Making!

My local grocery store carries fancy carbonated lemonade in old fashioned bottles with clamp tops, and it’s one of my favorite summertime picnic treats. The bottles are so cool that I can never actually bring myself to recycle them with the rest of the glass, so I’ve amassed quite a collection over the years. But, thanks to the wonder that is glass etching cream, I’ve finally found a way to give them new life! In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to combine a beautiful glass bottle with a pair thrift store glasses to make a fun Hitchhiker’s Guide-inspired drink set. It’s cheap, fun, and Earth Day approved!

Materials

Adhesive-backed vinyl
Letter stencils
Craft knife with a detail blade
Large glass soda bottle or wine bottle, cleaned and with labels removed
2 thrifted glasses
Etching cream
Small sponge brush
Tweezers
Rubbing alcohol
Electronic cutter *optional

Step 1
Trace “DON’T PANIC.” onto a sheet of adhesive-backed vinyl, then carefully cut out the letters using a craft knife.

You may also use an electronic cutter to cut the vinyl. (I used my Silhouette SD for this project.)

Step 2
Thoroughly wash and dry the glasses and the bottle, then clean the outside surfaces with rubbing alcohol.

Step 3
Using tweezers, carefully apply the vinyl templates to the bottle and the glasses, making sure that the edges of the letters are cleanly adhered to the glass surface with no gaps or bubbles.

Step 4
Apply etching cream to the letters using a sponge brush. Follow the instructions on the container, and be careful not smudge the etching cream or let it run onto other parts of the glass.

Step 5
Once the etching cream has finished working, wash it off, then peel the vinyl template off of the glasses and the bottle. Once the vinyl is removed, wash each piece thoroughly before using.