Shabby Chic Birdbath

Hi Crafters!

Now that some of the grass and weeds have been cleared from the garden, I want to decorate a little.  A year or so ago, I made a teacup votive for my garden and an etched glass angel.  This year, I'm ready to add more etched garden art to my flower beds.  I have a few ideas, but I thought I'd start with a birdbath.

I headed to my local thrift store and picked up some glass to upcycle.  I have quite a stash but I needed a large plate or shallow bowl for the main part of the birdbath.

Here's what I found - a large divided plate.

I combined it with some pieces that I had from previous trips.

One dish here was already etched, but the rest were ready to go after washing in warm soapy water.

Here's one ready to etch with etchall® dip 'n etch.

As you can see, it is not quite covered in the dip 'n etch, so I solved this problem by rotating it while it etches.  If you do this, wear gloves.  The original dip 'n etch is a clear liquid, but as it is used, it turns dark.  It is still effective and after I etched all my pieces, I poured the leftover liquid back in the container.

Here all the pieces after etching stacked into the birdbath. It's pretty like this, but I wanted a little color to bring out the patterns.

Etched Birdbath

I wasn't quite satisfied with this arrangement of glass.   For one thing, after I painted the large dish, the back was more interesting than the front.  But, then I needed a larger bowl for the actual bath.  So, I went shopping again!

Here's the beautiful pressed glass bowl I found.

The inside is smooth and the outside has a very intricate pattern.

I didn't have enough etchall® dip 'n etch to cover this bowl, so I coated it with a layer of etchall® etching crème.  It would have been easier with the bowl's intricate surface to use the liquid, but the etchall® etching crème worked fine.  I used a plastic knife to get into all the grooves on the glass.

After it was finished etching, I washed it off using an old toothbrush to get into the crevices.  On a smooth surface, I would have scraped it off and put it back in the container (it's re-usable!).  But, this surface was too intricate to make it worthwhile.

After drying, I painted it as I had the vase and plate with Americana® Décor Chalky Finish paint by DecoArt®.  With the tooth on the glass created by etching, the chalk paint works very well, and I love the soft romantic colors.  I left the inside unpainted.

To give the pieces a distressed look, I took off some of the paint with sandpaper. 

Then, I glued the pieces together with an epoxy glue.

Here's the finished birdbath:

Shabby Chic Birdbath

I can't wait to try more garden pieces!  Ready to try etching?  Head over to the etchall® site for all your supplies. 

Looking for more garden "etch-spiration", you might like these etched garden crafts:

Teacup Votive

Etched Angel

Happy etching!