How to Turn Tea Cups into Cocktail Glasses

Anyone who follows my Instagram page (@nbritsky), knows I am a big cocktail geek. I found these amazing stemmed tea cups on Etsy and fell in love. When trying to order them I discovered they didn't ship to the U.S. I'm not one of those guys that finds something on Etsy and yells "I can make that!" You really should support the artists and reward them for their cool idea. But I made an exception because of the shipping rules. Here is my process. I've done it 10 times so far.

1. Gather all your supplies.
You will need some sandpaper (100-200 grit), two-part epoxy, a stemmed wine glass, a tea cup (optional saucer), glass cutter, knife/scissors and a flexible plastic cup.

2. Score the stem.
Start by scoring the top of the wine stem with the glass cutter. It doesn't have to be perfect since it is very challenging to keep it straight. We have a way to correct the errors later in the process.

3. Snap off the stem.
It's not a bad idea to wear gloves and safety glasses for this next step. Firmly grab stem of the wine glass in one hand and the bowl of the glass in the other. Stand over a trash can and snap the two parts. It should break without a lot of force. If you are struggling too much, use the glass cutter to score the stem again.

4. Sand the cut smooth.
Sand the top of the wine stem until it is parallel with the bottom.

5. Prep the tea cup.
Use sandpaper to rough up the bottom of the tea cup. This will help the epoxy adhere to its surface.

6. Get ready for the glue.
Cut a hole in the top of a plastic cup and place it over the stem. Then see if your tea cup just rests on top of the stem. If the stem is too low, shim the plastic cup. I found business cards work well. If the stem is too high, shim the stem. Business cards are too big so you could cut them or use some big washers.

7. Glue cup to stem.
Mix a bit of two-part epoxy and apply a dab on the stem (which the plastic cup is over). Then place your tea cup on top. Let this sit for 24 hours or whatever the instructions on the glue package suggest. When it is done, use the knife or scissors to cut the plastic cup off. Voila! You have yourself a fancy cocktail tea cup.