How to achieve an etched glass look using frosted vinyl

If you love the look of etched glass but can’t get etching cream to work for you, here is a wonderful alternative that will help you achieve the same look with more consistent results!

Have you ever heard of Cricut Frosted Vinyl? It helps get that gorgeous etched glass look without messy etching chemicals. I’ll be using frosted vinyl for this project, however, a great alternative material is the Cricut Frosted Window Cling.

Design Space

I wanted to create a wedding memento box to store trinkets from our special day. I planned to put our initials on top of the glass box. Browsing through the Editable Images in Design Space, I found this lovely image that will work perfectly!

Once the Editable Image was on my Canvas, I double-clicked the text to edit. I replaced the text with our first initials, and then I chose a font that looked a little more elegant.

Once I was happy with the final design, I simply clicked the Make It button. I selected the correct material in Design Space, and prepped a sheet of frosted vinyl on a cutting mat to load into my Cricut Joy Xtra.

After cutting out the design, I weeded the excess vinyl from the decal. I also cut a piece of transfer tape that was about the same size as my decal. Using my scraper tool, I burnished the transfer tape over the frosted vinyl, ensuring that the vinyl was securely adhered to the transfer tape.

The last step is to apply it to the trinket box. I eyeballed the center of the box and placed my transfer tape where I wanted it to go. Using the scraper tool again, I gently scraped over the transfer tape back and forth several times so the frosted vinyl would stick firmly to the lid of the box.

If you don’t want the vinyl texture on the outside of the box, you can simply mirror your design before you cut and then apply the vinyl decal on the underside of the lid! You will still get that beautiful etched glass look no matter which side of the lid you put it on.

Wedding Day Trinket Box

I filled the box with small objects from the special day – a favorite photo, a boutonniere, a ring box, and some fabric strips of our wedding’s color palette. Another great idea is including a USB drive containing digital photos of the wedding day.

And there you have it! One beautiful trinket box to display a joyous memory. I absolutely love how it turned out and now I just have to find the perfect spot to display it in my home.

You can create these memory boxes for your loved ones (or yourself!) for any event or memory. Some other ideas are to welcome a new baby, to celebrate a friendship, or to remember a loved one. Try this technique for yourself! Share your faux etched glass creations on social media by tagging us @cricut and our hashtag #cricut and #cricutmade.