DIY Projects with Disney Character Signatures

Meeting the characters is one of my favorite aspects of a Disney vacation. It’s super fun and a great way to delight your young travel companions or ignite your own inner child. If you’ve had the chance to experience this yourself, maybe you also have an autograph book or two from your experiences. I do. More than I care to admit. This post shares some DIY projects with Disney character signatures you can make with glass.

Why glass? Well, partly because it’s inexpensive without looking like it. That means you can make some pretty sweet gifts or party favors in mass quantity without spending a lot of money. It also means you can consider a range of options like drinking glasses, picture frames, ornaments or storage containers. (Glass slippers?)  Plus, it’s a fun way to get a Disney fix on a cold January afternoon.

Etching Designs

My first idea was to etch the signatures onto glass. That sounds kind of ridiculous, now that I see it in print. To be clear, I don’t mean truly etch the glass with some sort of high temperature flaming tool. (Although that would be AWESOME!)  I mean those tubes of etching medium you can find near the painting supplies at craft stores. Pinterest is full of exquisitely executed crafts using the stuff. I’ve been etching to try it. (So sorry… couldn’t resist.)

The first step was to look through my Disney character signatures. I had already scanned them into my computer when I used them to make keychains last week.  For this craft you can use the signatures straight out of your autograph book if you want. If you need to adjust the size to fit whatever glass object you choose, try scanning or photographing them first and then printing copies. The quality doesn’t have to be fantastic. You’re just going to trace them.

Then I gathered my supplies: etching solution, a paint brush, a character signature (in this case Minnie), tape and a glass container. I used a peanut butter jar, since we tend to use a lot of those around here and I wasn’t convinced this etching stuff (does that sound like I’m swearing?) would work.

My next step was to tape the signature inside the jar. This serves as the guide for the design. Then I placed some of the etching solution on a paper plate, I mean palette and started applying the solution over Minnie’s signature with a fine point paint brush.

It’s a slow process. In order for the solution to work you need to get a very thin layer of the solution on the glass. This is a little difficult, at least with the type of medium I tried. On one previous attempt I applied the etching stuff (still not swearing… although at this point I kind of felt like it) directly from the bottle and it was way too thick. It looked like puffer paint even after it dried. If that happens to you too, you can easily scrape the stuff off and try again. Or go watch a Disney movie. I won’t judge.

Once I finished tracing Minnie’s signature with the solution I let it dry for about an hour. Here’s the end result. It’s not perfect, but it might spark possibilities (warnings?!) for your applications. I’m thinking a filled-in design, like Mickey’s iconic three circles or his name in bold block letters would look better. It would definitely be easier to spread the etching solution over a larger surface area.

Rather than pursuing that today, I was ready to try something else.

Paintpen Designs

My second idea was to use paint.

This time I printed out multiple signatures. I stuck with Minnie and added her closest friends. Again, I trimmed the signatures down and taped them inside my glass container facing outward.  I used a jar I picked up at the craft store for about $2.

For my first attempt, I used standard acrylic paint. I quickly learned that the signatures were too small and too detailed for this particular application. They would probably work fine on a larger project.

Fortunately, I remembered I had just purchased a white paint Sharpie. I bought it to write my kids’ names on all their dark colored sporting equipment. It worked like a charm on the glass! All you have to do is trace the signatures with the Sharpie like you’re using a regular pen. The pen wrote so smoothly I was done in minutes.

Here’s the result.  I love how it looks. Fun, easy and oh so many possibilities for using it.

For example, you can turn it into a personalized gift by filling it with treats and adding a bow. These would be cute favors for a Mickey or Disney-themed party or shower. You could add a fun note like “Hope you had a swell time!” or “See ya real soon!” to fit the theme.

Here’s another variation you could use for a princess-themed event (or fan!).

The paint pen also works great on picture frames! I tried this on a whim, but I may have to explore other ideas. Maybe it would work on those Magic Band shadowboxes?

I better wrap it up for now. Hopefully this post provided you with a few more ideas on how to get those Disney autographs out of a drawer and on to something you can enjoy more regularly. If I can do it, you can too. Probably better!

For now, I’m going to use my new creation to save for my next trip to Disney World.

Something tells me I’m going to need a bigger jar.

Add a little signature magic to your world!