DIY Custom Etched Glass Gift: The Baron Samedi Rum Bottle

Creating Unique & Personalized Wedding Gifts Thru Etched Glass: Part One

April showers bring May flowers and wedding season! If you're an average twenty-to-thirty-something woman and not a hermit hiding in a mountain cave, then chances are that you know someone getting married this year. The odds are in your favor.

Searching registries for the best gift becomes second nature, but after a while, all the matching towel sets and Pyrex blur together and I become bored with my own gift. Which is a sad predicament, indeed, because I want to give something that screams my enthusiasm for their important day, rather than yawning like a pair of Christmas gift underwear. 

So I'm often torn between my desire to give the bride and groom something practical that they need, but also to give them something memorable, so they can laugh at our inside jokes and know that we cared to add a special touch just for them.

Lately, my solution to this dilemma has been custom etched glass gifts. I was introduced to this craft on Make It & Love It. By adding a creative element to a practical gift, no piece of glass is safe! Any bottle, vase, or Pyrex can become classy or hilarious in less than half an hour.

The Rum Bottle With Spirit

It all started when my talented friend Suzanne Cullen and I were searching for gift ideas for our friend Hilary's bridal shower. We wanted to combine our efforts to give her a little extra bang for the buck and we wanted to find something extra special that would be just perfect for Hilary's personality. We saw a lovely set of glasses on her registry, but that wouldn't be quite enough.

So we thought, why not give her some rum to put in those glasses. That's fine and dandy, but lacking a personal touch. So then Suzanne thought, why not add a custom etched glass design to take an average bottle of rum and make it legendary.

Baron Samedi Rum Bottle design created by Suzanne Cullen

Perhaps you just have to meet Hilary to understand why a skull-faced, cigar-smoking spirit on a rum bottle would make her so happy for her bridal shower. When we met in college, she was big into voodoo and Baron Samedi (a Loa of Haitian Voodoo) was one of her favs.

Plus, he's a spirit fond of rum, so the design really just made sense.

Baron Samedi Rum Bottle design created by Suzanne Cullen

Suzanne set to work creating a sketch of Baron Samedi, peeling off the label on a bottle of Sailor Jerry's, and transferring the design to the bottle to be set permanently in the glass with Armour Etch.

The gift was such a hit at the bridal shower that Suzanne later collaborated with our friends Chris & Jess over at CJohanesen Studio to sell the design on leather flasks too. But then again, they are crazy talented like that.

Join me tomorrow for Part Two, when I'll share another way to customize a wedding gift by transferring the wedding invite design to etched glass.

Full tutorial and process photos!

Custom Wedding Invite Design by Matt featured tomorrow.

Have you ever received a great gift flask or bottle? What was the most unique gift you ever received?

Linking at: 
Watch Out Martha, Rain on a Tin Roof Give Me the Goods Party, The Pin Junkie,  Tatertots and Jello, Natasha in Oz, Fidlers Under One Roof,