DIY Tutorial: Customized Martini Glasses on the CHEAP

Hi everyone!

I took yesterday off to clean my house, and BOY did it need it!  Laundry was everywhere, and dishes...dishes as far as the eye could see!  Now we are all nice and tidy, and I can return to my little bloggy slice of heaven.

For my Lash Bash, I wanted to create something personalized for my guests to take home. When I saw Benefit's martini glass with their logo on it, on the page with food and drink ideas on the Lash Bash planning site, I KNEW I had found my something amazing.  I didn't want to use the exact same logo as what was on THEIR glasses, so I chose to use the written out logo, that was available for download on the Ipsy/Benefit Lash Bash planning site.  I looked in to lots of different ways of creating personalized glassware, but they seemed a bit on the expensive side, and since I am a gal on a budget.....I did these the Only Average way.

I do want to note that although I used permanent markers, this was NOT permanent on the glassware.  If a glass is rubbed hard, or washed vigorously, the writing will wash off. I am sure that there is a sealant that could be applied to the glasses, but I didn't do it. This worked well for the one-night event, and were a hit.  I offered to re-write on anyone's glass after it was washed, if they wanted to save it.

Customized Glassware for my Lash Bash

Customized Martini Glasses

What you'll need:

You will need permanent markers, a printout of what you want on the glass, two pieces of tape, and your glass.

• Clear (or lightly tinted) martini glass (this one is from my local Dollar Tree), or other glassware you would like to personalize; washed and dried.
• Permanent markers in two shades: the metallic ones I used worked very well, and are (you guessed it!) sold in sets of 2 at Dollar Tree
• A printout of the logo/phrase you want on your glassware, cut out close to the words
• Two small pieces of scotch tape

First, download the image of the logo or phrase you want to put on your glass, I copied and pasted mine into Word, so I could easily resize it. Once it's sized as you like it, print it out on plain white paper, and cut it out closely.

Next, put two pieces of tape on your logo paper- one on each side, so that the sticky side is on the same side as the printing is.

Remember to keep your design low on the glass, and one that you can easily trace.

Tape the paper inside the glass, with the words/logo facing out- this is so you can trace the letters onto the outside of your glass.  

A top view of the paper taped inside the glass.

Keep in mind that you want to avoid the rim of the glass (where someone would put their lips); as not all markers are non-toxic.

As you can see, you can't really see the silver letters. That's ok- what we really want is a base for the red.

Take your base color marker and trace the logo/words onto the glass, allowing it to dry for a moment.  I used silver as a base color.  This will likely not show up too darkly- and that's okay.

If your tracing isn't perfect, don't stress it!  The marker will easily wipe off at this point, if you want to try again.  Personally, I think that imperfections make this project unique.

Next, trace over the letters/logo again with your main color.  This should be a brighter color, and will stand out much more on the base color than if used alone, and allow to dry. 

Simple and classic.

Remove the paper logo and tape from the glass.

Love Benefit?!  Why, yes...yes I do!

I added a heart, freehanded above the logo, since it looked a bit low on the glass.

For a basic personalized glass, that's it!  

Freehanding the letters was really easy!

Just freehand the words again, right over the base color.

I had so much fun making these, that I wanted to keep going, so I flipped my glass over and freehanded the hashtag: #benebabe to the glasses, first with the silver, and then the red/pink marker.

The silver looks better here, but is still very pale and boring.

The red over the silver really makes it "pop".

I wanted each guest to instantly know which glass was theirs, so I wrote their names on the bottom, first in silver, and then in the red/pink.  

These turned out super cute, and were a major hit at the party!

I served "Wink Lemonade" (Pink Lemonade) in the glasses, and rimmed them with pink sugar crystals.  This is a super easy way to up your presentation, and only takes a minute to do.

So gorgeous, served with Wink Lemonade :)

Sugar-rimmed glassware

What you'll need:

You will need: two plates, sugar crystals, lime juice (or fresh limes), and your glass

• two smaller plates
• decorator's sugar crystals in the color of your choice (we used pink!)
• lime juice, either fresh or bottled
• the glass you wish to sugar rim

First, put some lime juice on one plate. I bought fresh limes for my party, but I didn't have any today to photograph.  If you have fresh limes, you can just slice into the lime and run it around the glass.  I didn't want to do this, because I didn't want to chance hitting the personalization on the glassware.

Next, pour some sugar crystals onto the other plate.  I removed the shaker top from the container, because it was taking forever to pour them out with it on.  You want to put enough on the plate so that it is easy for the crystals to stick to the rim of the glass.

So easy, the kids took over this job at the party :)

Invert your glass onto the plate with the lime juice, and twist.

There isn't enough sugar on this plate, but I think you get the idea.

Place the lime juiced glass into the sugar crystals, and gently pat the glass into the sugar crystals, until it is coated as you desire.

Fill with your favorite drink, and serve.

See?  Easy peasy, and oh so cute!

This project had great presentation and cost VERY little- the markers cost a total of $2 (the colors I wanted didn't come together), each glass was $1; the sugar crystals were less than $3 at the market, and the limes were on sale-a bag for $1.  

I hope you enjoyed this quick tutorial, and can use it at your next house party!

Tell me- what's your favorite drink to sip from a martini glass?

Until next time, my friends- Stay average!