Cup o' Tea!

In addition to edible messes, Hot Mess Garlic Press is also interested in crafty chaos!

A few weeks ago, I made a birthday gift for my father-in-law, who drinks a lot of tea and will only drink said tea from clear glasses. While rummaging through the internet for handmade gifts appropriate for men, I was very excited when I discovered this tutorial for creating personalized, etched glasses.

The hardest part of this craft? Finding simple, clear glasses appropriate for tea! I finally scooped these up from World Market.

I wasn't able to follow Martha's guide exactly, since the Michael's I went to in Chicago's South Loop cannot legally sell etching cream, but I adapted the instructions by using glass paint, which I purchased at Starvin' Artist , a local art supply store in Oak Park.

I found a great H via Google image search, printed the image, cut out the H and taped the resulting stencil to the glass. Then I painted in the silver, let it sit to dry for 15 minutes, removed the stencil, and painted the black border around the letter. I repeated the painting process on the second glass, reusing the stencil.

Once the paint had dried for 24 hours, I put the glasses into a cool oven. After turning the oven on to 325 degrees, I left the glasses there for 45 minutes. The baking sets the paint and makes the glasses dishwasher safe.

I plain to give only handmade presents to almost all of our large, extended family this upcoming holiday season. But of course that means I won't be able to post those projects until the end of the year! Sad face goes here.

Until then! What's the best craft you've ever made? What would you create tomorrow, if you had the time, the tools, and the materials? Where do you get inspired when you're looking for inventive crafty ideas?

Painted Personalized Glasses

Time: less than 2 hours to paint the glasess, 24 hours for paint to dry, 45 minutes in the oven to bake and set the paint

Tools/Materials: stencil, glass paint, paint brush, glass(es), tape, functioning oven