Having trouble figuring out which cup is yours on the kitchen table? I have the perfect solution for that issue. A simple solution takes up about 25-30 minutes altogether. It is etching your cup. There are endless design options that can be put onto a glass. There are very few steps needed to customize your cup.

Step 1: Gather Suppplies

Gathering all of the supplies. The supplies needed is etching cream which is available at hobby lobby, a small paintbrush small vinyl design that's not weeded, painters tape, a glass cup, transfer tape, rubbing alcohol, a piece of paper towel, vinyl gloves, and lastly a work area that can be covered as well as by a running water source. Once all of the supplies are together, it is time to start the process.

Step 2: Weeding the Design

Now that everything is together, the first thing that will need to be done is to weed the design. When weeding the design you will want to take the parts away that you want to be etched into the cup. For example, if the name is to be etched into the cup and not the box remove the same from the design. This will leave the box and the little pieces from the letters.

Step 3: Applying the Transfer Tape

Once the design is weeded, the transfer tape will need to be applied to the decal. When applying the transfer tape to the design make sure, there is enough transfer tape to cover the whole design. First, when applying to transfer tape make sure there are no hairs or little crumbs on top of the design. Once the design is clean apply to transfer tape. When applying the transfer tape make sure there are no air bubbles and apply pressure to have all the parts of the design stuck to the transfer tape. Now that the transfer tape is stuck to the design pull, the backing slowly off the vinyl this will leave the sticky part of the vinyl showing. Double-check that there are no missing parts.

Step 4: Clean and Apply

Now that the transfer tape is applied, we are ready to clean the cup and apply our decal. The first thing that needs to be done when cleaning the cup is to put gloves on so the cup does not have skin oil on it. With the rubbing alcohol and paper towel, we will want to wipe the cup down and clean all the lint, dust, oils, or any other debris off the cup. Once the cup is all wipes off make sure that is also dry. It may help to let the cup sit for a couple of minutes to make sure that all the rubbing alcohol is dried off. With the cup now being clean, we are ready to apply our decal. When applying the decal make sure, the design is the way you want it before applying it to the cup. Once the vinyl decal is stuck, it is hard to get it off to replace it without wrecking it. Once it is where you want it to apply it to the cup. Before taking the transfer tape of apply pressure when rubbing it to make sure the little pieces and edges are stuck to the cup then you can peel the transfer tape off. When peeling the transfer tape off you will want to go slowly. Once the vinyl is applied make sure the vinyl is stuck down well and has no creases where the etching cream could go into and have streaks on the design.

Step 5: Applying Tape and Etching Cream

Once the vinyl is applied and stuck to the glass with no crinkles or bubbles, it is time to tape off the cup and apply the etching cream. When tapping off the design tape the edge of the design. Make sure you do not cover the design but cover the outside of it so the etching cream does not touch the glass there. There is no such thing as tapping too much of the glass off unless you cover the design sometimes one piece all the way around is enough. I always do at least two pieces just to be sure. Now that is it tapped off you can apply the etching cream. When applying the etching make sure, you shake it and have your gloves on, as you do not want etching cream on clothing or hands. When applying it you will want to make sure you cover the whole design and put a generous amount on with the small paintbrush. It will not go to waste as in the end when scraping it off you can put it back into the bottle as it is reusable. Once you know the whole design is evenly covered, let it sit for 15-20 minutes.

Step 6: Cleaning the Etching Cream Off

Now that the etching cream has sat for 15-20 minutes make sure that the gloves are still on and it is time to clean the cup. The first thing to do when cleaning the cup is to scrape all the etching cream off possible with your paintbrush. After the etching cream is all scraped off, bring your cup to a sink or just a clean running water source. Start running the water over the tape and the vinyl and scrubbed the leftover-etching cream off and peel the tape and vinyl off. Once the tape and vinyl are off and the etching cream to scrub the cup with dish soap and wash the cup.