 We just tried five ways to personalize some gifts. We did sublimation, etching, engraving, etching with color and resin. And we'll show you how we did it right now. What is up? Welcome back. Do you like to do it, Builder or Make It? A Soda Week. And we have a new video each week. This week, the parties are coming. It's that time of year and everybody's having a little holiday party and you know you can't show up empty-handed. That's right. And the most fun holiday hostess gifts that I've seen are those that are personalized. So... I love things with my name on it. So we're going to try five different ways to make personalized coasters as, as like host gifts. Right. And they don't have to be coasters, but these methods you can use on other things like we're going to use wood. You could use that on a cutting board. We could use, we're going to use slate. You can use that on a slate serving board. Some sublimation materials. Put that on anything, obviously. And then we'll be doing resin. So anything with a resin mold. And we're going to be doing some etching. So we've got a lot of fun techniques that we're going to try and see how they go. Gift number one. We're going to sublimate on some coasters. We have these Cricut Infusible Ink Coasters. They're all ready for sublimation. We needed some sublimation paper. We have our A-sub, eight and a half by eleven. We need some high heat tape so that thing doesn't move when we're trying to throw down the heat press, which we needed a heat press. We have our Cricut Easy Press. We needed some butcher paper so that the ink doesn't get on the easy press. I like this butcher paper. It smells fun. We're still using our meat hugger butcher paper. We needed a sublimation printer. We have an Eco Tank 2760 that we've converted into a sublimation printer. And I love this little printer. It's worked perfectly. It's been beautiful. It cuts eight and a half by eleven, but I'm thinking I want something a little bit bigger now. I told Garrett I had my eye on a Christmas present. I'm hoping to get a sublimation printer that'll go a little bit bigger so that we can print a little larger image. Your motto is go big or go home. That is our motto. We're going to jump into Word. We're just in Microsoft Word. I'm going to mirror the image. I'm going to bump up the saturation just to scooch so it really pops on that coaster. We're going to print it out. We're going to trim it out so that we don't have a whole lot of excess paper that we're trying to tape down with the high heat tape. We're going to use the high heat tape so it doesn't move or ghost while we're trying to press it. We're going to cover it with our meat hugger paper. Then we're going in for six minutes at 400 degrees. You know, measure twice, cut once. I still made it a little too small, so we're going to reprint it and try it again. Cool down. Look at this thing. It is beautiful. It exists exactly what I was thinking. We had a conversation, a little discussion about this round red ring on the outside. Garrett's like, well, you don't want that. I was like, but I do want that. A little negotiation there. I like the ring. I think it kind of just brings it together. Oh, I think it looks great. This is cute little coasters to give someone and they're little holiday coasters. They only bring them out this time of year. Now it's best to use a JPEG over a PNG because a JPEG will give you those crisper lines. Okay. Gift number two. We're going to etch on slate. We have these slate coasters and some armor etch. This stuff is powerful. Serious business. So you're going to need some gloves to protect your hands and some kind of paintbrush or something to glop this cream on. You're also going to need a stencil. We're going to use our smart vinyl and the Cricut to make our stencil. All right. First, we're going to apply the stencil. We're going to make sure that stencil is down really tight. Try to get it in all those little cracks inside the slate. Rub it with your fingers if you have to. Second, we're going to apply this blue tape because you want to make sure that etching cream does not touch your work surface. If it touches anywhere outside of that stencil, it's going to leave a mark of etching. It's happened to us. So we're going to seal it off with this blue tape to make sure it doesn't touch anything but the area that we want stenciled. Now we're just going to glob on the etching cream. Don't paint it. I was yelled at for painting it. Just put it on thick. Pile the stuff on. You're going to scoop it back off here in a second anyway. We're going to wait 15 minutes. For slate, it takes a little bit longer. You've got to let that stuff set. Glass, you're looking at a minute and a half, but for this slate, 15 minutes. Now we're just going to scrape it off and put it back into the bottle. And once I have the majority of it off, we're going to run to the sink and we're going to rinse it off with just some warm water, rub it to get it all off. And since my gloves getting stuck to the stencil, we're just going to pull the stencil off too. All right, look at that. I think that is the coolest. I love the etching on the slate. Well, he likes the slate. It's manly for him. I think it just looks classy. I mean, it looks classy. I want this coaster. Yeah, bring a bottle of wine and this little set of coasters. It's nice. These can be used all year round. I still won't use a coaster, but I want this coaster. Right, right. Gift number three. We're going to engrave on some wooden coasters. Now we're just going to take it over to the glow forge. I'm going to line up the image and we're just going to let it run. But you can also do this with some ammonium chloride and a little bit of water and a stencil. A lot like we just did with the slate, but with ammonium chloride instead. And you'll put a link to that video. I'll put a link to the video where we did it right over here. I picked up our coasters from Marshall's. It was a stack of four of them, and they're literally blank on either side. So they're perfect for this project, begging to be personalized with some engraving on them. And then because they're so plain, I think I'm going to add some cork to the back. Give it some little feet. Yeah, raise it up a little bit. Give it some little feet of some sort, I think. I mean, really, I'm surprised they're so flat. Otherwise, it's just a plank of wood. Yeah, but they're finished and they're beautiful, so all I have to do is engrave on them. To engrave on these, I'm just going to line up the image using the camera. And then I'm going, I'm going to attempt to do it with thick walnut plywood settings. We'll see how that goes. And that's what I'm talking about. This is the easiest. I think this is the easiest so far. I mean, it's the easiest if you have a glow forge. Now, I still like the slate. The slate's my favorite, but this was probably the easiest so far. And I like it. Now it looks classy, too. It does look classy as well. It's so classy. Yeah, that's how we do. Classy gifts at the moment. We go big and classy. Gift number four. We're going back to the etching, and we're going to try to etch on these tiles. But I want to add color. I want to make them colorful coaster tiles. Yes. If you guys remember in July, we did a Christmas in July trying to use these tiles. We were trying to sublimate on them, which we were never able to do. So for this project, we're going to try etching them. I think we can use the etching cream on these and use them as coasters. Now, I mean, I know they're not coasters, but I think they're not coaster. They're unique. They're a conversation piece. Well, I think, yeah, I think they would be, they fit a drink perfectly. It's the right size, and I think they look like a nice holiday coaster. Yeah. So if we etch something on there, and then color it in. Again, it'll look classy. Yeah. And we'll color it in. Well, I don't know about the color, but we can try it. We can try it. I don't know. The color is going to make it pop. So for this project, we needed the armor etch again, the tiles. These are just the tiles that go like on a bathroom wall. Then we needed some paint markers. These are acrylic paint markers, so they'll get inside the etch piece. We need some vinyl to make our stencil and the Cricut Maker to cut the stencil out. Transfer tape. I forgot to say it in the last one. And the blue tape to really protect it so they don't get crazy with the armor etch, and it gets everywhere. And the armor etch is a little bit crazy, so we need some gloves to protect our fingers. Full circle. Bring it all around. Again, we're just going to apply the stencil to the tile. Then we're going to go up on the cream, really pile it on. I'm assuming this is like glass, so we'll give it like five minutes. Scoop it all back into the jar. Rinse it off using the water. Wipe off the residue with an alcohol wipe, and then apply the acrylic paint. I'm just going to use these paint markers and put it in the holes. Now we're going to wipe off the excess. Alright, this one didn't really turn out like I thought it would in my head. It etched it, but barely etched it. It just like made it dull in spots. And then it doesn't really hold the paint at all. The paint just wipes right off. I think I'm going to try it again, but I think I'm going to leave it on for like 15 minutes this time. Which is what he told me in the beginning, but I told him it was tile, so you only needed five minutes. Now we're going in for 15. I'm going to give it one more try. One more try. 15. Number two might have come out worse. The paint didn't stick at all this time. This was so disappointing. It's the same, so don't blame me with my five minutes. The 15 is exactly the same as five, so it just barely etches. But you know what, I want this to work, so I am going to get it to work. So I'm going to try one more time, but not with the armor etched. Yeah, he's already... Alright, this time I'm going to take this and put it in the glow forge. I'm getting it to work, so it's going in the glow forge and I'm going to use 400 speed and full power. And we'll see if I can get it to engrave. Is what I'm talking about. That's exactly what I had in my head. Totally worked with the glow forge. Did not work with the armor etch. I think you could probably get it to work if you leave it like really long. Well, I'm looking... I mean, the feel of this, you guys can't really see how deep this is. It is deep. No, it's barely deep. It's just took a... It's a lot deeper than this one. Well, yes. But it's not nearly as deep as the wood. Right. So it didn't... These must be really... They won't sublimate. You can hardly engrave. It's just a stone in the bathroom. It's just a stone in the bathroom. I mean, I guess that's good if it's in the bathroom. You want to be able to clean it off. Yeah, you're cleaning chemicals. You don't want to mess them up. It's classy right there. Well, I don't know about that. I'm not loving the color. I love the color. I'm not loving the color. I think we should do it again. Ooh, should I even put my drink on that? Did somebody leave a piece of artwork on the table? I'm not sure that's going to hold up to getting wet and everything. I think we need to engrave this with the glow forge. Just put the G on here. Maybe put a little of black antique wax or black paint or something just to show. Oh, you just want a hint? A hint. You want to hint that design? A hint of G, and then I think it'll look cool and classy. I mean, it worked. Just not exactly what I had in my mind. It worked exactly like I had in mind. Gift five. Resin coasters. I have big dreams for these coasters. I really have a vision in my head of what I want them to look like. We will see if I can make that happen. She's been chit-chatting about these resin coasters all week. I do. I think they'll look really cool if I can bring my dream to fruition. So we have saved the messiest and the longest for last. This takes forever, and it's very messy. We're going to need some resin. We've got the total boat resin. We need some resin molds, something to mix the resin in. We have these cups, something to mix the resin with, some popsicle sticks. Then we have pigments, some powders, and some of this liquid stuff, casting opaque pigment. And then we have these little monograms that we cut out on the Glowforge. The Kim wants to sink inside them. Yeah, well, so we use the Glowforge, but you can get these little letters. You can get letters at Michael's or Joanne's, your craft store. So it's not a big deal that we use the Glowforge for this one. I think you could find a little S anywhere to sink in there to do what we're trying to do. I've seen that. But for this one, we just went ahead and cut it out because we had that luxury. It's a pop bubbles. We're going to use a heat gun. And then this stuff is smelly and dangerous. So we have some masks. We have to mix the resin. It's a half and half ratio for three minutes. That's like a three minute pouring stir. I'm going to get those forearms. Are you going to give me a break halfway through? Yeah, we can swap it out. All right. Or I'll just switch to my left hand. Except I'll go sit over here and leave you to do it by yourself. So I'll muscle through. I'll power through. Then we're going to divide the resin up. Then we're going to add the opaque white to the big cup of resin. We're going to put some resin in some tiny cups so we can add the pigment to it. We're going to pour the resin in. We're just going to try to get around the edge. Try to get the white in the lip. It is a lot harder than it looks. Give me a try. I feel like you're too heavy of a pour. I think if you do it lightly. Oh. Yeah. Yeah. I've had it. Not as easy as it looks, is it? On the outside edges, I'm going to add this copper bronze. It's actually bronze. Bronze. Around the outside because I want to bleed to the inside. And then I'm going to add this gold except I'm going to add it to the outside. I originally thought I would put it on the inside, but I'm going to put it here on the outside. Change up. Change up. And now we're going to use our heat gun to blend it a little. I'm not trying to mix it all, but I do want it to spread a little so it doesn't look like a straight pour. And I'll be popping bubbles. Popping bubbles. I'm going to add the letter now before we fill it all the way up because I want this to be to the top and I want you to be able to see it. So I'm going to put it in first before we cover it too much. And then I'm going to finish filling it up with our pigments and more of the opaque white. We're at a resin. We got to mix them real quick. Popping bubbles. And now we just got to wait for 12 hours. All right. Well, I can't really see the personalization, babe. It's a little more opaque than I thought. I just wanted... I want it so it is slightly white. It's not completely white. Yeah. But it's too white because now the ass... I didn't realize this little tiny ass that is really thin. I used eighth inch. Would float to the top. I mean, you guys saw it. I totally covered it. You couldn't see the ass. But when I got back this morning it is... it has risen to the top. And now... Wait a minute. It's really light. I think... No, I can't. But that one you can't. If you really hold it up you can see the personalization. It's like hidden personalization. You could be like, Hey, is that my coaster? No, this isn't your coaster. Then why is my ass on it? And then I don't know the... I don't know. This isn't exactly... It didn't turn out like I wanted. Even the bronze colors that I wanted to, you know, bleed in a little... I mean they're not too bad. I like them. I think they're cool. Even if you can't see the personalization I still like the design and I like how it would go around the glass. Would you use this coaster? Would you actually use a coaster? Probably not. You know, I would take the coaster and my glass with all intention of using the coaster but then set my glass next to it. So I'm going to try these again. I'm going to try these again and if I get them to work I'll post them on our social media so you can see. I will try them again because I do want to give these as a gift and I even asked my sister some colors of her living room so that this would get a match. It's actually for my niece but we will see. We will get them to work like I want them to and then I'll post them and share them. Yeah, it's a little too long to just try and then try again. Try again like we did with the etching. That's a 36 hour experiment. Yeah, that's a... Yeah. All right, what do you guys think? Sublimation, etching on slate engraving on wood, etching on tile or resin, which is your favorite? My favorite is still the etching on the slate. I still think it looks classy. It just looks unique and classy. I wanted the resin to be my favorite but it didn't turn out like I wanted. Don't force it. So the sublimation turned out to be my favorite. This looks the nicest. Yeah, I'm going to say sublimation. It might be my third favorite. I'm going to say slate, wood, tile. Sublimation resin. So sublimation is down on my fourth. What's your list? Give us your list down in the comments. Otherwise, we're about out of time so we will see you next week where we'll do it, build it and make it again. And you can join us for our Patreon after show if you want to hear what's been going on in our new shop and some of the, you know, new adventures we've encountered over the past week. Big moves, big machinery. I was even driving things. I'm going to balance slate. Balance slate. A coaster. It's too small. I don't want to break that. Don't break my coaster. Yeah, I wasn't going to balance it. I wasn't going to balance it. All right. Balance.