Country Bumpkin: Date Night!

Let me just start by saying that I am an incredibly indecisive person on most things. Things like what to do, where to go, and what to eat (especially what to eat!). I'm afraid some of that indecisiveness has rubbed off on Pat. We can never figure out what to do in the evenings (and sometimes on the weekends) so we usually end up watching the boob-tube till bedtime.

One night as I was scanning Pinterest I came across something that may solve our problem. Jennifer from Life in the Green House had come up with an idea for a date night jar. Insider were different ideas for a date at different prices. Brilliant! That would take all of the deciding out of it! Just pull an idea and do it! This also allowed me indulge in another crafty idea I had been dying to try out. I've been itching to etch some glass! I found some great etching tips from Kimbo at A girl and a glue gun. Martha Stewart also has some good advice on etching.

So without further ado here is my version of the date night jar!

Materials:

Jar (I used the jar from a Wal-Mart candle I had used for just $5)
Etching cream (I used Armour Etch $20 for big bottle)
Clear, adhesive transparency paper
Popsicle sticks (sizing to your choosing)
Acrylic paint
Gloves
Brushes
Craft knife

Step One: If you are reusing a jar like I did make sure to clean it inside and out before you get started. I had to get all the residual wax out of mine.

Step Two: Choose the font you would like then print it on the transparency paper (I choose the Sofia font). Let it dry for about 5-10 minutes. *Make it is completely dry before you start working with it

Step Three: Using your craft knife cut out the words and use it as a stencil. There are a couple of different ways to do this depending on what type of design you want. When you are etching glass, the glass that the etching cream has come into contact with will look cloudy when it is finished.

If you would like only the words on your project to be cloudy, cut out the letters. Then take the transparency paper and cute out a square around the words. Stick the tape onto the jar and it will look something like this.

If you would like your letters to be clear and the area around them cloudy, cut you letters out then place just the letters on the jar. Then place painters tape on the jar in the design you would like around the letters. Then paint the entire area with the etching cream.

Via a girl and a glue gun

Step Four: Apply the etching cream and let it set for an hour or two. I let mine set for 2 hours. I have found some places say to leave it on for 30 minutes but I wanted to make sure it had plenty of time to work its magic! *Be sure to wear gloves because if this stuff eats through glass imagine what it will do to your skin!

Step Five: While your etching cream is drying paint your Popsicle sticks whatever colors you want to use.

Pat and I decided to use this color scheme: Green for more expensive dates, pink for less expensive dates, and white for free dates (we'll be using these a lot for a while!).

Step Six: Once the etching cream has dried don another pair of gloves and rinse it off. Then take off your stencils and admire your handy work!

Step Seven: Once your sticks are dry write your date ideas on them and pull it all together! Pat and I haven't come up with ours yet (because we're do indecisive) but here are a few ideas from Jennifer at Life in the Green House.

More Expensive: