Project Description
Arlene, Center, receiving an award on December 8, 2018
My friend and fellow CreateNcraft Team Member, Arlene, is a very active member of her sorority, Zeta Phi Beta and specifically, Gamma Zeta Zeta Chapter. In September 2018, Gamma Zeta Zeta Chapter celebrated 75 years of service to the Columbus area. A very special evening was planned and Arlene stepped up to the plate to help make it really memorable.
She volunteered to make a pair of custom etched wine glasses for everyone who attended the celebration! She committed to making up to 600 wine glasses, each set with a pair of unique wine charms, packaged in the sorority’s colors; blue and white.
In about two weeks time, with the help of some friends, she accomplished her mission. Joe Rotella helped cut the stencils – an elegant dove – the symbol of the sorority – and Carole Lassak helped etch some glasses. Other friends pitched in too, and although the saying goes “many hands make lite work”, the sheer volume of this task made it an incredible amount of work.
The end result was a beautiful gift as part of a beautiful evening. Congratulations to Gamma Zeta Zeta Chapter and a special Thank You! for all the service they do for others. And a huge shout-out to Arlene for an amazing effort and gorgeous result!
DIY – Custom Etched Wine Glasses
Arlene used etchall® etching creme to transform glasses from Ikea into a special commemorative gift set. Etchall creme is a a resuable etching crème., so she could use it over and over again to etch 100’s of glasses!
Materials
- Stem wine glasses (these are from Ikea)
- Alcohol wipe
- etchall® etching crème
- etchall® etchmask
- etchall® etchmask transfer sheets
- etchall® Detail Pick Tool
- etchall® Squeegee
- Plastic spoon
- Painter’s Tape
- Tool to cut the etchmask, such as the Brother ScanNCut or the etchall® Swivel Knife
- Paper towels
- Craft knife
- Scissors
- Basin with water (or access to a sink and running water)
Watch the progression, from plain glassware to etching to the finished set! If you click on a photo, you will see it popup larger. You can scroll through the pictures that are popped up. You can even see them full screen! The controls are in the upper left of the popped up image.
There are 15 photos in this gallery. The page may take a minute to load. Hang in there – it’s really worth the wait!
Zeta Phi Beta’s History
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. was founded January 16, 1920, at Howard University, Washington, D.C. According to Zeta Phi Beta’s website, the Klan was very active during the 1920’s and the Harlem Renaissance was acknowledged as the first important movement of Black artists and writers in the U.S. This same year the Volstead Act became effective heralding the start of Prohibition and Tennessee delivered the crucial 36th ratification for the final adoption of the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote. The worst and longest economic recession to hit the U.S. would define the end of the decade-The Great Depression.
It was within this environment that five coeds envisioned a sorority which would directly affect positive change, chart a course of action for the 1920s and beyond, raise consciousness of their people, encourage the highest standards of scholastic achievement, and foster a greater sense of unity among its members. These women believed that sorority elitism and socializing overshadowed the real mission for progressive organizations and failed to address fully the societal mores, ills, prejudices, and poverty affecting humanity in general and the black community in particular.
