Are you hosting Thanksgiving (or Friendsgiving) this year? My DIY Faux-Etched Fall Leaves Pitcher shows how you can dress up your everyday glassware for your upcoming gatherings. The final outcome looks like etched glass but actually uses Cricut Frosted Vinyl. Therefore, my fall leaves pitcher is a no-fuss, no-mess craft project that you can complete within minutes. And any overachievers out there could also make a set of matching glasses too.
Barware is essential for any gathering; however, it gets expensive to have holiday-specific glasses. Enter vinyl. Permanent and removable vinyl make it easy to transform plain glassware for the holidays. Both the permanent and removable vinyl holds up to multiple washes (when done by hand) and both can also be removed. Of course, the removable vinyl is easier to remove, but I’ve found that the permanent comes off too if you want it to (and only if you want it to).
As for the DIY faux-etched fall leaves pitcher, as mentioned above I used Cricut Frosted Vinyl. I originally bought etching cream; however, I then read the instructions. It said you had to wear gloves, the set-time was 15 minutes and any mistakes would be permanent. Yikes! So while this project requires the use of a vinyl cutting machine, the frosted vinyl gives you the look of etched glass without any of the DIY headaches.
I chose a pitcher because it’s perfect for dressing up your Thanksgiving bar carts or using on your Thanksgiving table for serving water. You could actually make a few to set out for your different cocktail and beverage needs. So let’s get to the simple how-to tutorial!
Materials
- Cricut Frosted Vinyl in Opaque
- Transfer Tape
- Vinyl Cutting Machine
- Brayer or popsicle stick
- FREE Leaves Jpeg Download or Leaves SVG
- Rubbing Alcohol
- Glass pitcher or carafe (pictured: IKEA 365+ Carafe with Stopper)
- Glasses (to make a matching set of glasses)
Instructions for Faux-Etched Fall Leaves Pitcher
Cut Out Vinyl Leaves Decal
Download my FREE Leaves Jpeg file or Leaves SVG. Upload the jpeg or SVG to your cutting machine’s software. Size the leaf branch to the size that works for your pitcher. If using the IKEA carafe, it should be about 2 inches tall. Cut out your vinyl decals from the frosted vinyl according to your cutting machine’s instructions. For the IKEA carafe, you’ll need about 20 vinyl decals.
Adhere Leaves to Pitcher
Prepare pitcher by cleaning it with rubbing alcohol, this will help make sure the vinyl decals adhere to your glass pitcher. Make sure the pitcher is dry before adding leaves.
Once leaves are cut, remove the negative space and discard it. Apply the transfer tape to one decal using a brayer or popsicle stick to remove the vinyl from the paper. Next, position the tape (with the decal) on the pitcher, press down to adhere the vinyl decal to the pitcher. Use the popsicle stick to push-down the vinyl so that it sticks without any bubbles. Then gently pull back the transfer tape at a 45-degree angle. Once the tape is off, go over the leaf again with your popsicle stick to get any final bubbles out. Repeat until you add all your leaves.
Tips for Creating Your Pattern
As for the pattern, I made it random by alternating if the leaf branch was pointing up or pointing down. I used about 19 leaves, including a couple at the bottom where I only used the very top of the branch or very bottom of the branch making it look like the design was running off the edge of the glass.
If you mess up, don’t worry. The leaf decal will be ruined but you can simply remove it and try again with your next vinyl decal.
The pitcher proved perfect for serving apple cider. I’m actually working on an Apple Cider Rum Punch recipe for Thanksgiving so I know the pitcher will get used again. Or I could use it to serve my Apple Cider Mimosas. What’s your favorite Thanksgiving cocktail? Leave it in the comments so I can try it too!
Cheers to a wonderful holiday season. I already have visions for using this same technique but with holly or snowflakes! Christmas is so close.
