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Thursday, January 29, 2015

Faux Etched Window Tutorial

One of my best sellers when I sell at the Little French Flea Market are my faux etched windows.  They are very simple to do and although there's a lot of photos in this post, it's a quick and simple process so stay with me.  You will need Martha Stewart's Frost Etching cream available at Michael's and Joanne's.  You will also need a stencil of your choice, a mixing bowl - my mixing bowl is about a half cup custard cup - acrylic paint and a stencil brush.  Of course, you will need a window.  I get mine at the salvage yards.
I use approximately a dollop of the frost etching cream and about half as much of my acrylic paint.  That's it.  Mix it together.
Clean your window on both sides and work from the back side of your window.  Once this product dries, you can clean it with windex and a paper towel but do so gently.  Since the front of the window does not have the design on it, that can be cleaned normally.
Your stencil will be turned over because you are working from the back side of the window.  Tape your stencil in place.
I keep a paper towel handy so when I dip the stencil brush in the paint medium I can dab it off so I don't get too much paint on my brush that could run under my stencil.  It's the same principal as when you're working on walls or wood.  Now just dab the paint on your stencil.
Make sure you cover all the lettering on your stencil image.
Now rinse off your stencil in the sink so that the frosted etching cream doesn't dry on the stencil.  It's easy to get off if it's not totally dried.
For this window my stencil wasn't quite big enough to fill my window space so I needed to come back and do my corners with a second design.  Put your extra paint mixture into a zippy bag for about 20 minutes while the window dries enough to lay another stencil on the window.
Here is what I had left of my mixture after doing a whole window.  It doesn't take much.
Here is a Paris window I did last week.  The scrolly stencil is from    Wall Masque Stencils and the Paris stencil is from  Maison de Stencils.
Here is another popular stencil I use, also from Maison de Stencils.
Here is the cute little window I just finished.
This weekend I will be selling at the Little French Flea Market.  It's our first flea market of the year.  We have moved to Northridge so please note the new address.  Hope to see you there.
Thanks for stopping by.

I may be partying at...

Mondays           Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday

Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style   Ivy and Elephants
                         My Salvaged Treasures
                                           

Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

17 comments:

Mimi said...

Oh Maggie! You are a girl after my own heart! I too am etching using Maison de Stencils. Isn't it the best fun? I wonder if you'd do me the honour of sharing this at my new Five Star Frugal Linkup where we're sharing ways to live elegantly for less. I'd be thrilled if you'd join me. Mimi xx
http://atrayofbliss.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/the-five-star-frugal-linkup-is-on.html

Lynda Bergman Decorative Artisan said...

Hi Maggie, I love your windows and the stencils you used. Have fun at the market. Lynda

Mammabellarte Rita Reade said...

Awesome post! Thank you Maggie for sharing. Have a wonderful event. Ciao

Curtains in My Tree said...


I love that cute window and would hang that in my kitchen window
You will have no trouble selling it
thanks for the tutorial

Susie said...

Maggie, That is so pretty. Very nice of you to tell us how you do the etchings. Bless you, xoxo,Susie

Betsy@My Salvaged Treasures said...

Love these gorgeous windows and the stencils too. Thanks for giving us such a good tutorial. I'd love to share on my FB page tomorrow.

The Polka Dot Closet said...

Maggie....I love it! I have etched before, but had NO idea you could use acrylic paint with it!!! What a fabulous Idea!! Thank you, I will use this!

Carol

French pretties said...

Bonjour Magie. It's seems we have the same professionale profile background and the same hobby :DD Anyway love your project. Hugs. Monika

Becky@Beyond The Picket Fence said...

I love these stencils and how you used them. Thanks for linking up to the Vintage Inspiration Party!

Debra@CommonGround said...

Oh thank you so much for sharing this with everyone, I adore these windows and just thought it would be way to hard too do. Yours are truly gorgeous! Wish I lived closeby, I'd buy yours anyway!

Bliss said...

I can see why those sell, they are awesome!

Vickie @ Ranger 911 said...

I LOVE your etched windows, Maggie! I imagine they sold right away at your sale. What a fabulous accent they would be in any room!

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

I'm wanting to etch a window on a door going into our kitchen but the stencil I want to use, I want to have the stencil portion remain clear glass and the etching to be around it. The stencil I have is a bit detailed so I was looking for something I could use to 'fill in' the stencil then etch around and then remove/peel the 'stencil'. I've seen a couple of things online, but not done anything like this before was hoping for some more experienced advise. Thanks!

Jerri said...

Thank you for the tutorial. I was curious if you were able to reuse your stencils and if so how do you do it? Also when you mix the acrylic paint with the etching cream is that to increase the color on the glass? Your designs are gorgeous and the results are very very pretty. Thank you for your time !

lymacsau said...

Thanks for sharing, nice post! Post really provice useful information!

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