A Special Gift

Recently I had a relative give a generous gift to my family, which helped us immensely. Especially me, who has no summer job at the moment (yeah...I know). My Dad reminded me to thank her properly, and so I had to think of something more than just a card or an email to send. At the time I'd been working on some house decorations that I was making by hand, and I figured I could turn that creative path into a gift. This is what I came up with:

The past few weeks I've been creating and designing this simple paper flowers. I think they're cute and quite simple and could bring a bright element to any space. I've been originally doing them for my kitchen and living room (coffee house themed with reds, browns, and warm golden patterns), but wanted to take on some perkier colors.

They're really easy to make. Each layer of the flowers are just different sizes of the same SVG from SCAL. The chrysanthemums aren't exactly like the ones from the free download I found. The others are primroses. I mod-podged the top of each flower, set aside, then looped each layer onto twisted floral wire, then looped the top after each layer was pushed to the top. Then I crumpled them or curled them; however I liked. Then I mod-podged the under side of each layer and let it dry. Then I wrapped the entire stem with floral tape. Ta-da!

I'm thoroughly thankful to those who give.

Custom Vehicle Vinyl Decals

So I had a custom order from the new assistant director's wife from Camp Blue Haven a few weeks ago. Permanent staff usually get vehicle decals of the camp logo, but they hadn't had them made in a few years. I always had it in the back of my mind that I could make them, since I have a Cricut machine and Sure Cuts A Lot. But since I graduated years ago, and am no longer a camper, I have no affiliations with the camp anymore...

So I'm going to give a rundown as to how I made them! They were very simple I figured out; I hadn't used these materials before.

1. Supplies:

• Cricut Vinyl - can get this at any craft store or Walmart ($9.99), or even by it on Etsy from CarolinaVinyl ($22)

• Cricut Transfer Tape - also at any craft store or Walmart. Also $9.99.

• Cricut Machine (in this tutorial I am using the Personal Cricut (6" by 12" mat).
• Your design picked out. I am using SCAL to save as much on space as I can.

2. Check your design and load the appropriate size of vinyl into the cricut machine. The vinyl consists of to pieces: the actual vinyl, which has a sticky back, and then a layer of paper to cover the sticky (if you're using the Cricut brand vinyl it should be light blue). Cut out your design.

3. Peel off the decal from the mat and arrange on flat surface so you can see how it will actually look like when put on a vehicle window.

4. Next you will be working with the transfer tape. Cut out a piece from the roll that will fit your entire decal. Then carefully peel apart the the 2 pieces of the transfer tape (one will be extremely sticky and thin; the other is sturdier and somewhat glossy). Set aside the sticky tape piece.

5. Now take each piece of the vinyl decal and peel the back of each piece off (you'll be peeling the light blue paper off). Discard the blue paper. Carefully arrange all the pieces of your vinyl decal on the glossy piece of the transfer tape sticky down.

6. Now take the sticky piece of the transfer tape you set aside and place that right on top of the decal, matching up with the glossy piece of the transfer tape. Thoroughly rub the tape into place with your hand or with a tongue-depressor.

So now when you've pressed the 2 pieces back together, you can peel the sticky paper back up, and the vinyl comes with it, ready to be placed on a window. Make sure when the decal is placed on a window, it is a clean and dry surface. Press all over the decal to make sure it is all stuck to the window and peel the tape off. Then you're all done!

Hope this was helpful to anyone who wanted to try these :)

And if anyone would like to have some of these of their own, but don't have the supplies to make them, send me a comment or convo on Etsy, and I'll get some made for you!

Onto other fun projects!

Hannah