Mermaid Cups

       I have had an exhausting, but fun summer.  I'm more than halfway to 'going back to work.'  So, I've been trying to get some projects completed in between a ton of travel.  This September I'm hosting several birthday parties, and one is at a beach house, so I'm making a few little projects, including these mermaid tail water bottles.

     I found these bottles at the 99 Cent Only Store, they go so perfect with this shiny vinyl, and I also found a mermaid tail piñata at the same store ($4 for that guy, but the cups were 99 Cents each).  I put each gals initial on one side and a tail on the other and I have little blue bags I'm going to fill with a few beach essentials....which I still have to figure out.  Lot's more to come on that and so many other projects, outings, trips, parties, and adventures!
     If you are a Cricut user, you may already know this, BUT if you don't, if you google whatever image you want and put the word 'free svg' there are so many things you can download without having to buy the files.  In this case I downloaded "mermaid tail free svg."  There are also some sites that will transform a jpeg to a svg for free, you just have to make sure it's for personal use so the copy right folks won't come after you!

Faux Vintage French Window

 One of my goals this year is to redo my guest bathroom. It needed redoing 17 years ago when I moved in to this house.  The problem is, I have a few things I need to do in my life that will drain some money advance of this project (which will include sink/bathroom/floors/light fixtures).  So, right now, I'm working on the things I CAN DO that don't cost a lot of money until I either A)  Find a money tree.  B)  Win the lottery (which also includes B 1/2) Start playing the lottery C)  Get those other things 'done.'  So, I already had this window in the bathroom hanging with a wreath in the middle.  The wreath may get another purpose b/c I like it.

 I designed a 'vintage' perfume shop sign using some I saw on Cricut and I used this tutorial on youtube for making it a 20 by 20 so it would fill up the space on the window.  Pause for a silent moment for youtube making life so much easier.

 My design ended up in four parts.  I'm not a perfectionist, so I used a ruler to roughly measure where this would be center, and thus, where to begin the design.

 Then I pieced together the four pieces of matted black and pressed them down to the window.

I'm so eager to get moving on this project, but this at least makes me feel like I am moving forward!  I'm currently storing all the 'new' pieces in my closet, so it gives me double incentive to get moving!  BUT I'm really happy with how this turned out.

Heat Press

This is NOT a sponsored post, this is just a tool I have tried out and liked and I wanted to share b/c I had a lot of questions before purchasing this tool.  I've had a Cricut for years, and a few years ago I got into making vinyl shirts.  I have been using my iron without too much success for long term sticking.  It also took me a lot of pressing, rubbing, lifting, re-pressing, and probably a few words I shouldn't know to get things to adhere.  I know they have large presses a lot of folks use, but I just DON'T have the space required for those presses.  I got this one for about a hundred (99) around Christmas.  It does not come with an ironing board for below to press the shirts on, so you do have to purchase that separate.  Instead of buying their board, I used a flat board from the sewing section at the craft store (use a coupon, it's much cheaper).  They just saying not to use an ironing board b/c it's not truly flat.  I followed the online instructions for temperatures, and I pressed it several times from the front and the back.  I did these little Valentine shirts and then a bunch of multi colored vinyl shirts that are going to be a surprise for something else and it worked great.  So, two thumbs up for this Cricut Heat Press that I can store in a closet and didn't need to find more table top room for in my craft room!

Laundry Room Mirror

 This is my unfinished laundry room a month or so back.  I will post it all in another post, but I did a bunch of different projects to try to make it a little more fun....as fun as laundry can be.  I also TRIED to keep the budget low since I SHOULD be the only one frequenting the room, but it's become a catch all that is slightly frightening.

There are no windows in the room because it used to be part of the garage that the owners before me walled off.  To lighten up I painted the walls white, and I've found in the past if I added mirrors it sometimes seems lighter (at least to me) because it catches some more light.  Normally, I would have hunted down a mirror at a thrift store for dollars, but....it was a busy time, so I found this one at Walmart for ten bucks.  I taped off the mirror part and gave it a couple sprays of some mint paint I had.  I then bought a svg file on Etsy and cut it out on my cricut and applied it to the mirror.  It was a really quick project, but it makes a big impact.

DIY Mustache Cups

 I (finally) hopped on the vinyl train.  I put together a little bucket of green treats for my secret sister at work and I decided to include some green cups...with mustaches.

 I used a pattern (download one free here) on card stock.

 I had help.

 I traced it on some vinyl (they sell waterproof vinyl that can we washed).

 Peel and press.  It doesn't get much easier than this!

Yes, I know it's August, but Christmas is always in season....just go to any craft store right now and you will see.  ;o)   I saw a onsie kind of like this a few years ago.  If you have a Cricut or some sort of cutting machine, you can use a reindeer die cut, but you can also just print off a reindeer outline online and use it to cut the shape out of iron on vinyl the old fashion way....scissors.

 I found this vinyl with sparkles at Hobby Lobby.  I used a coupon, so it was about 8 dollars for four sheets, which is more than I usually would spent, BUT....I can get two deer out of it, and then I'll definitely find a use for the other pieces.

 I cut out the shape of the deer, and used the shape to cut out a circle for the nose.

 You put it on your shirt/onsie and then put a towel over it and press down with a heated iron to adhere it.

A deer that sparkles....be still my heart!

Water Bottles

Just a quick little project share.  I found these super cute bottles at 99 Cent Only Store.  What?  I love them, they are really very sturdy.  We have five brand new teachers this year....though lots of new teachers at my school.  These five latest will have their very first first day of school, so I put together a little something to put in their box.  I'll add a note later.  I love vinyl.

Flamingo Water Bottle

I bought this water bottle at the dollar tree.  Iv'e been playing with my Cricut.  I had a scrap of white vinyl and a current obsession with flamingos, so I blended those.
-If you don't own a Cricut, there are still tons of fun outlines you can search online to use to cut out shapes from vinyl (sold at craft stores-use a coupon).
-If you own a cricut, here are the steps I used:  I found a free flamingo on the Cricut and I "ungrouped it" and deleted everything but the back outline.  I then typed a M for the monogram and set it over the flamingo.  I highlighted the whole thing and hit "slice" so it took the M out of the middle of the flamingo.  I'll do a video tutorial sometime....I'm just figuring all these things out!

Halloween Bucket

I recently got a Cricut (the air).  I went on the hunt for projects and stumbled across the idea  on simplyk of using these empty paint cans you can buy at the home improvement stores (I got this one at Home Depot for five dollars).  The fun thing is you don't HAVE to have a cricut.  I used a free spider clipart I found (it's actually a tag, so I had to slice off the top) and circles and then I just typed out my name.  You could use paint, or punch out circles from vinyl.  I love it....what an adorable idea for trick or treating, or in this case, I'm going to fill it with some adult fun gifts.  I added a ribbon b/c everything is better with ribbon.

Pumpkin Face Cups

 I found these orange cups at the dollar tree.  Winning.  I just got a new cricut for my summer birthday and there are a bunch of pumpkin face fonts I decided to try out.  This isn't a project that requires the cricut-you can find all sorts of free pumpkin face templates online you can use to cut out some black vinyl.

The end result is a pretty fun (affordable) treat cup.  :O)

Iron on Applique

 I'm headed to GMT this Thursday  with a pop of color.  Here is a project I'm putting together.  I'll be demoing an Easter version.  I'll post the full tutorial on my facebook page.  In the meantime, here are the steps through my camera lens at 11 pm on Sunday night.

 I bought some iron on vinyl from JoAnn's.  Depending on where you get it-it's one thing you can't always use your coupon for, so watch for the sales.  This was 50 percent off.  I cut out an A.  I'm giving this to my teammate at work who has a thick for black, white, and red.  I used a cricut to cut out the A, but you could definitely find printable block letters you could use to trace on the vinyl.  You will want to cut the mirror image in the case of words.

 I bought this pillow case online, but I've also found them in all different colors at Hobby Lobby.  You run your iron over the area where you are about to press down your design.  Then place your design where you want it.

 Place a clothe over your design and iron.  There should be a dull side and a shiny side.  You want the shiny side facing up.  Iron and hold down until your design in adhered to the fabric.

There is a clear film you can then peel off your design.  And now...it's ready to go and machine washable.