Kids Thermos Makeover - Part 1

I was hoping to do this post on in one but the second portion was a big fail so here is part 1 and part 2 will hopefully come soon!

My kids and I LOVE these for cold drinks - it keeps ice cold all day!  Look at how nice the paint on this newer one is.

The picture isn't as nice after it has been used a lot!

One day I came across a blog post someone did about "etching" their child's name on things like this.  It looked very cool, easy to do, and permanent.  Of course, I can't remember what was used to do the "etching" so part 2 will hopefully be about how I made these cool again.  This post covers how to get the old paint off to make it look like a new product (even though it will not be a Spongebob cup anymore).

I simply used a paint remover, soft scrubbing pad, paint brush and rubber gloves.

I found this cute little bottle in the
model car section of a craft store.

I put the thermos on a protected surface, applied the paint remover (with the brush) in small sections at a time, and then gently scrubbed the paint off.  Once I had all the paint off I washed it to make sure all paint was off.  Of course I was extra careful to not get any remover inside the thermos.  Even though it was washed many times prior, I just wanted to be careful.

Here's what I ended with when I was done.

Now hopefully I will figure out my next step to personalize these for my little ones. I have figured out that the etching cream for glass is not the same cream that was used in the blog I read - LOL!