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DIY Etched Shot Glass Boxed Favors

I have collected shot glasses for our entire marriage, so it was only obvious that shot glasses should be our favors for the vow renewal.  After doing lots of research, I came across a tutorial on Weddingbee for goccoing on glass and set off to create my own custom etched shot glasses.  Here they are, encased in their custom handmade boxes, at each place setting.

gold-and-cream-table-setting-place-setting-wedding-gold-linens
{Mark Brooke}

To etch glass, all you will need is your trusty gocco, painters tape, q-tips, and Armour Etch glass etching cream, which you can purchase at your local craft store.

Prep: burn a gocco screen with your desired design (burn multiple to a screen if your design allows).  After the screen is burned, cut the screen around your design, leaving a sizable margin.  Thoroughly wash your glassware.  Using painters tape, tape the screen as tightly as possible to the glass.

how-to-gocco-on-glass

With your q-tip, put a generous amount of etching cream on the gocco screen over your design.  Let sit for 2-5 minutes.

gocco-on-glass

Wash off the etching cream, being careful not to let any cream touch the glass.  Remove the screen and tape and wash thoroughly.  Voila – etched glass!

Now that I had customized shot glass favors, I needed a pretty box to put them in!  I used this tutorial video for making drop spine boxes (with a few modifications).  First, I scaled down the measurements to what I needed for a shot glass box.  My measurements for a 2 oz whiskey glass box were:

2 7/16  x  3 5/16 – bottom
2 13/16  x  3 11/16 – lid
2 5/8  x  3 11/16 – spine
2 9/16  x  3 5/16 – long sides
2 9/16  x  2 11/16 – short sides

Whatever your measurements are, be sure that the pieces fit together flush with no overlap.  Then follow the video!  You will need chipboard cut to your desired size, a bone folder, PVA, decorative paper, scissors, and ribbon.

Here is the first step, the box bottom chipboard – on the right, plain, and on the left, covered with the Paper Source luxe cream paper that I used for all of my DIY projects.

drop-spine-box-chipboard-and-covered

Next, the lid.

drop-spine-box-lid-covered-with-paper

Here was my major customization to the boxes.  Instead of a ribbon closure, I wanted something a bit more decorative, so I got creative.  I ordered filigree flowers from my go-to online shop for findings, Ornamentea (you may recognize the look of the filigree from other Ornamentea findings I incorporated into the vow renewal, such as the wine glass charms and RSVP packet treasure boxes).

To make the magnetic closures I used for my drop spine boxes, you will need: ribbon (I used 3/4″ double-face satin in cream), wire (I used 20 gauge), glue dots, jump rings, filigree or some other open patterned item, and Mighties magnets (which you can purchase online or at your local Container Store).

Each closure has two pieces.  The top which folds over the top of the box, and the bottom, which lifts up.  One side of the magnet should be placed in each closure.  For the top filigree closure, I first used the wire to create a backing for the filigree.  I attached small jump rings to two places on the charm, then looped the wire around each jump ring, leaving the middle flat for the ribbon to wrap around it.  I then threaded the ribbon through, tucked the edge under, and sewed closed.

top-closure-filigree-for-drop-spine-box

For the bottom closure, I used a glue dot to attach a mighty magnet to the ribbon, about 3/4″ from the edge of the ribbon.  I folded the ribbon through the hole in the filigree backing, over, and around the magnet and sewed the magnet into the resulting “pocket”.

Once you have both sides of the closure, place them inside the top and bottom of your box prior to covering the inside with paper (see tutorial for full explanation of making the drop spine box).  Be sure to measure so that the wire and magnet catch each other to close fully!

magnetic-closure-drop-spine-box

finished-drop-spine-box-with-magnetic-closure

Next, because the item inside my box was going to be breakable, I needed some padding to hold the shot glass in place.  Again, it was time to get creative.  To create the padding for the box interior, I used crepe-backed satin in the shade of the paper covering the box, filling from jewelry boxes, and wonder under.  I measured out the bottom of the box, and first created a bottom “pillow” by cutting out a piece of jewelry box filling and using wonder under to attach the fabric to the filling.  I mitered the corners and wrapped the extra fabric around the back of the pillow.

The side walls of padding were created in much the same way, with all four pieces of filling separated by just enough to create firm corners in the walls (think of bumpers on a baby crib).  I then sewed the end corner together and cut as close to the seam as I could, leaving as little extra fabric after the seam as possible.  Then using good old scrapbook adhesive, I adhered the pillow to the bottom of the box first, and then the walls to the inside of the box.  Let me just say, there was a lot of trial and error involved in this process!

drop-spine-box-cushion

The final result, with shot glass and padding.

diy-drop-spine-box-for-shot-glasses

And in action:

long-low-lush-estate-table-centerpieces-all-roses-and-candles
{Jessica Claire}

white-cream-gold-blush-estate-table-centerpieces
{Jessica Claire}

estate-table-centerpices-low-lush-roses-white-cream-gold-pink
{Jessica Claire}

So there you have it, my most time consuming DIY project of them all (and the one that gave me the most headaches, for sure, although I loved the end result!).

What DIY project is giving you headaches?

PS – You can find my previous vow renewal recap posts here!