Iron On Vinyl Applique Tutorial

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Roeshel

Hello DIY friends! We’ve been working on creating a recycled brick patio and path under the grape arbor/gazebo and I’ve been doing some crafty things before we initiate project Laundry Room Makeover.

Happy Crafters sells patterned iron-on vinyl. Isn’t that so cool?! Patterned! Houndstooth and polka dots…I see more personalized gift ideas in my future.

When I saw the pink camo iron-on vinyl at Happy Crafters, I knew I had to have it even before I knew what I’d do with it. You’re either a camo person or not. It’s not my style but several of my sister’s items of clothing have a camo design. And since she’s currently undergoing chemo for breast cancer, “pink camo” seemed perfect for creating her a special little gift. Her days are filled with not feeling so well, so comfort is key and I decided on personalizing/monogramming a t-shirt.

Materials:

t-shirt
pink camo patterned iron-on vinyl from Happy Crafters

Tools I used:

Silhouette Cameo
Iron

Tutorial:

1. I started by creating and sizing my design using my Silhouette Design Studio software. I had purchased a fancy letter “B” for another project which worked well…all scroll-y. Perfect and reminiscent of cancer ribbons. I also spelled out “princess” for a little extra embellishment. REMEMBER TO MIRROR YOUR DESIGN (right click, “flip horizontally”)!

2. Load the vinyl patterned side down into the machine.

3. Settings for cutting the iron on vinyl are blade 2, speed 8, thickness 5. Then I simply sent the design to ‘cut’.

4. Once the cutting was done, I weeded (removed) the excess vinyl that’s not a part of the design.

5. Place design onto t-shirt.

6. Cover design with a cotton dishcloth. I used a scrap piece of cotton fabric. Iron on high, pressing down 25-30 seconds on each part of the design (no steam).

7. Remove the transparency. (If the design lifts too, then place the transparency back into place and iron again.)

That’s it! Easy! I repeated the same steps to adhere “princess” near the neckline on the back of the t-shirt…since she doesn’t have hair covering that area right now. Here’s my sister rocking super model bald and wearing her new t-shirt…she’s such a good sport since this was right after her chemotherapy.

I really loved working with this vinyl. It has sort of a “rubbery” texture. Great for making personalized gifts. Check out the other patterns too!

*This post is sponsored by Happy Crafters. Tutorial, experience and opinion is my own.

Decorating a Lamp Shade with Vinyl

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Roeshel

Lamp Makeover

Plain white lamp shades are the perfect clean slate for adding a little DIY color and pattern to a room. I used vinyl on the inside of my shade to make it a little more special. When the lamp is turned off, the design is subtle, almost invisible but when the lamp is turned on, there’s a sweet little reminder to “shine bright”.

Materials I used:

old lamp
FrogTape® Multi-surface
spray paint (Valspar Indigo)
Ikea Jonsbo lamp shade
Glossy adhesive vinyl (turquoise) from Happy Crafters
optional: elastic gemstone bracelet

Tools: Silhouette Cameo

How I did it:

After taping off the light socket and cord using FrogTape®, I spray painted my old lamp a pretty navy and let it dry. Then simply removed the FrogTape to reveal a nice clean cord and nice clean switch and socket.

For the vinyl wording: I created my lettering in the Silhouette Design Studio. Be sure to right click the text when finished and “flip horizontally” so it shows backwards. IMPORTANT: MIRROR IMAGE the TEXT!

I also used a flower garland shape for my design in addition to “shine bright”.

I sent both to my Silhouette Cameo to “cut” once I adjusted my settings for vinyl. If you don’t have a vinyl cutter, you could also use vinyl decals if the design looks the same backwards (remember: text must be flipped horizontal/mirror image for this project).

I then removed all of the unnecessary vinyl from my designs by weeding away the vinyl that isn’t a part of the design…

and added the transfer paper.

I removed the waxpaper backing and placed my designs on the inside of the lamp shade. I used a credit card to rub down the design for transferring. Then I removed the transfer paper.

Note: I found cutting and adding my flower design in sections of two to be the best way with the rounded/tapered lamp shade. Keep vinyl pieces individual/smaller sized to go around the curved lampshade to prevent wrinkling when applying.

I added the turquoise bracelet for a little additional bling.

Here’s a shot of the inside and outside. I do love how the turquoise vinyl lettering on the inside shows navy-ish on the outside. I couldn’t have planned that better if I tried!

It’s perfect on a side table in our family room for a little extra reading light…

Lamp off…

Lamp on…

NEAT! Love it! I also thought “Note to self: Relax.”, a monogram or a damask pattern would have been pretty. What would your lamp shade say?

*This is sponsored by FrogTape®. FrogTape provided by Shurtech. The opinions are completely my own based on my own experience.

Happy Crafters supplied the vinyl for this sponsored blog post.

Framed Pet Silhouettes

Posted on July 30, 2013 by Roeshel

I love silhouette shapes, don’t you? In need of some sort of framed art in our hallway, I decided to whip up some silhouettes of my pets to frame.

We have two pets in our home…Lalka, our ragdoll cat:

CocoRosie, our Italian greyhound:

Actual pictures of them are something I haven’t framed but black silhouettes on burlap are just about as sweet!

Materials I used:

Two 8×10 picture frames
Burlap
Silhouette textured adhesive cardstock from Happy Crafters

What I did:

1. I cut out two 8×10 pieces of burlap (and ironed them using my irons highest setting and spritzing the burlap with water (not steam) on both sides).

2. Using my Silhouette designer studio software, I purchased a cat and greyhound silhouette from the Silhouette store and created two designs for cutting, one of an 8 x 10 matte for my white adhesive card stock and a dog and cat measured to fit inside of the matte on black adhesive card stock. I also saved my designs to cut out more adhesive cat and dog shapes for making handmade cards (using the adhesive card stock is like making your own custom stickers and adhesive labels).