May's Silhouette Deal~

This is the week for the May Silhouette promotion.  And I hate to admit it but, my uber-fabulous, amazing project that I was going to share with you, has yet to be created. (ahem.)   But for anyone that is interested I don't want you to miss out on this month's great deal...

So here's the Silhouette Promo for May...

• A Silhouette SD cutter
• 3 Rolls of heat transfer material
• All for only $219

That's a saving of over $125!!

Simply go to this link to purchase, and use the code "SHABBY" at checkout for your discount.

If you already have a Silhouette, you can still receive 25% off all heat transfer material!

And just for a little example of what you can make with heat transfer fabric, a few  months back, I made these darling shirts for my kiddos using Silhouette's White Flocked Heat Transfer fabric.  They're so fun! 

May's Promotion runs from Now thru May 25th!

Happy Crafting~

How To Create Personalized Subway Art~

When I decided to create the personalized subway art that I showed  you in this post, the first thing I had to decide is what I was going to create it on.  Originally, I thought that I would use wood, but while I was at JoAnn's one day I lucked onto a sale on painter's canvases. 

I chose one that is 15" x 30".  They had a larger one, but I knew that I was going to use my Silhouette Digital Cutter to create the words, and I wanted to stick with the existing size templates I had (which only go up to 12") so I thought that the 15" width would be perfect  - allowing me 1 1/2" margins on both sides.

To create Subway Art the way I did, you will need:

• Pre-stretched Painter's Canvas (available at most craft stores) or Wood cut to size
• Black Paint
• Fine-grit Sand Paper
• Adhesive Vinyl
• A Craft Cutting Machine (Silhouette or Cricut etc.) - Or there are many vinyl shops out there that can cut custom words for you
• Ruler
• Pencil
• PATIENCE

Here's what I did:

1. I made a list of a bunch of places that have personal significance to us as a family.

2. I typed each place into my  Silhouette software using the Arial Narrow font in Bold.  Then I resized each word so that they were all 12" long.  NOTE:  by making the words all 12" long, some will be larger than others.  This is normal and actually helps your sign look more authentic.  ANOTHER NOTE: Because you can't be sure exactly how tall the words will end up being once they are all the same length, it is wise to cut out more places than you think you will need...I learned this the hard way.

3. Here I taped the words to the canvas (still wrapped in plastic) so that I could get a rough idea of the order I wanted them in.  This is where I figured out that I needed more places...so I ended up cutting out 3 more.

4. Then I painted the canvas black and gave it a light sanding to give it a little character.

5. After I decided what order I wanted the places to go, I started by measuring down from the top of the canvas approximately 2 1/2", and in from the sides 1 1/2" and put light guide marks with my pencil.  Then I adhered the vinyl lettering the way I normally do.

6. For the next place name, I measured down from the bottom of the previous name 1/2" and in from the sides 1 1/2" just as I did for the first and put guide marks.  Then I adhered the vinyl lettering.

7. I followed this same procedure 12 more times until I had all the places adhered to the canvas.  I found that the vinyl stuck very well to the painted canvas - I had been a little worried about that initially, but I was pleasantly surprised.  (Because someone is bound to notice, if you look at the photo above where I had taped the words to get an idea of placement, you'll see that I misspelled Niagara...oops!  Didn't even notice until I had put it on the canvas.  But you'll be happy to know, that it only took a bit of elbow grease  - and by that I mean fingernails - to pull the incorrect version off and replace it with the right one.)

8. Then I hung the canvas on the wall and admired it...just like I do everyday when I come into my dining room!!

The whole process was actually quite easy...just a bit time consuming.  But I love the result, and I'd do it again...in fact, maybe I will!

Happy-Subway-Art-Making!!

Linking to:

Rhinestones~

Hey out there in blogland!

This month, the good people at Silhouette sent me their rhinestone starter kit to try out. I must admit, I wasn't so sure about how it would work out...but let me tell you...after making the shirt I'm about to show you for the Princess, I was hooked. No really. I've got some other fun ideas cooking in this little old brain of mine now.

So without further ado, I present the Princess' blingy pennant tee shirt. How cute is that?

And seriously, by simply following the directions included with the kit, I made the whole thing in just about 20 minutes.

The Silhouette cuts a rhinestone template for you, then you just use the included brush and this amazing little tool called the Pick Me Up to position the rhinestones.





(seriously...if you are a paper crafter or use little crafting doodads like rhinestones...this tool is A.MAZ.ING. Love it!! It uses this sticky gum that reminds me of that adhesive stuff you can use on walls to help you pick up tiny little whatzits.)

After that you use the sticky rhinestone transfer paper - so well photographed below - to lift the rhinestones from the template and place them on whatever you want to transfer them to. It doesn't have to be fabric either...you can use them on paper if you want.

Iron them on and VOILA!

Love it!

If you'd like to try the rhinestones yourself, here is the fabulous deal Silhouette is running this month. A perfect Mother's Gift, might I add.

This Rhinestone Bundle includes:

The Silhouette SD
2 sheets of rhinestone template material
2 sheets of rhinestone transfer tape
2 rhinestone backing boards
1 rhinestone placement brush
1 CD of rhinestone images
1 pack of clear 10ss rhinestones
1 pack of clear 16ss rhinestones
1 pack of clear 20ss rhinestones
1 pack of pink 10ss rhinestones
and
1 Pick-Me-Up tool
ALL FOR $229!

This is an incredible deal worth $125 in savings!

Click here to purchase, then click on the special bundle icon and use the code "SHABBY" to receive your discount.

If you already have a Silhouette Machine and want to try the rhinestones, Silhouette is offering 30% off all things rhinestone! You don't need a special code to receive this discount.

Happy Crafting!!

Frugal Friday goes live tonight at 10:00 pm EST as usual...See you there!!

Fabric Flowers~

This week I got my craft on. I was looking through some of my old Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion magazines (yes, I saved them all...) when I was inspired by a photo of a little girls bedroom with fabric flowers and books on the wall. And even though I've scoured the internet, I can't find the image - boo! (Feb-March 2007 if anyone has it.)

In any case, I thought it would be fun to do something similar in the Princess' bedroom.

First things first, I needed some fabric flowers. And I wanted them to coordinate with her room. Luckily I have some scraps of fabric left from making her bed pillows.

But then I had to figure out how I was going to make the flowers. Luckily, Silhouette sent me some of their fabric interfacing to try...so I pulled it out and followed the directions on the package. Then I just used my Silhouette machine to cut flowers right out of the fabric. Yep! You heard me right, the interfacing makes it possible to cut fabric with your Silhouette! Can I hear a "Woot Woot!"?

Since this was a hit or miss attempt (as is usually the case with my "crafting") I didn't photograph the process, but it was amazingly simple. After I cut out three flowers in varying sizes, I just gave them a little depth by pinching the back to define each petal.

Now here's where I prove I'm not a crafter. I couldn't figure out the best way to keep the pinches in place - sew them? glue them? - so I stapled them. Yes, with a stapler. Ha! But you know, it worked great and it gave each flower the 3D effect I was going for.

Then I just hot glued them together with the largest on the bottom and the smallest on the top.

They turned out darling! Of course, once I got them finished I realized I don't have the sort of books I wanted to use just hanging around the house (vintagey, small)..so now I'm on the lookout for some. But, once I got the flowers done I thought they were so cute, all kinds of other ideas started flitting through my head...curtain tie backs, pillow embellishments, stuck right to the wall. You get the idea.

So I'm posting these cute flowers and asking YOUR opinion...what would you do with them?

If you want to make some of your own, you're in luck!

This week (March 21-27) Silhouette is offering...

Silhouette SD, two rolls of fabric interfacing (clean cut and sewable) and one roll of flocked heat transfer material all for just $229.

If you already have a machine they're offering %25 off the interfacing!

Just use the code "SHABBY" at checkout.

Have a great day~

Mini Pennant (and Cake Bunting) Tutorial~

Didja catch that people? Huh? Didja? That's 2 tutorials for the price of 1!! Which is free. Yep. Free. Cuz I'm not charging ya for 'em. I'm generous like that.

Actually, the truth of the matter is that the steps are all the same until the very end, so it would be silly to post them as two separate tutorials, and I don't want to bore you all stiff. That said, I have seen this idea floating around blogland, so I'm not taking credit for it. I'm just showing you how I put mine together. In case you want to do the same thing some time.

Oh yeah, and please ignore my ratty cuticles and dry hands - I'm certainly no hand model, that's for sure. Eeks, but I need a manicure.

Okay, so where were we? Oh yeah...pennant tutorial. Here we go.

First up...how to make mini pennant flags.

Aren't they just the cutest little things??

Here's what you're gonna need:

1. A paper cutter (you don't really need one, but it makes the whole process simpler.)
2. Scrapbook paper that coordinates with your color scheme.
3. A ruler.
4. A pen or pencil.
5. Scissors.
6. Lollipop sticks.
7. Stick Glue.
8. String.


Step One: Measure and cut your paper in a strip that is twice as wide as the length of the pennant flag you're making. (In the case of the flags, I wanted them 2" long so I cut my paper to 4". For the bunting, I wanted each flag 1" long so I cut the paper into a 2" strip.)

Step Two: Using your ruler, measure and draw a line all the way down the center of the paper strip. For the 4" wide strip, draw it at 2" (for the bunting, draw it at 1"). Then mark every 2" all the way down the center (every 1" for the bunting). Along one of the sides - it doesn't matter which one - start marking at 1" and then every 2" after that. (On the bunting strip, start marking at 1/2" and then every 1" after that.) These will be your cutting guides.

Step 3: Now fold the paper in half lengthwise along the line you drew making sure that you can see the markings you made. Begin cutting from the folded side starting at the edge and cutting diagonally up to the first marking on the open side. Move to the next marking on the folded edge and cut back up to the same marking you just cut to on the open edge. This will make a triangle (a diamond when you unfold it).

For your next diamond, start at the same mark you just cut from on the folded edge, begin cutting again up to the next marking on the open edge. You will continue cutting in this manner making diamonds as you go. (You can discard or recycle the pieces that are just triangles).

Step 4: Open each diamond and cover with stick glue on the wrong side of the paper.

Step 5: Take a lollipop stick and place one end inside the fold of your glued diamond.

Step 6: Wrap the diamond around the lollipop stick to form a triangle. Press firmly to make sure it is well glued together. I like to press along the stick to make sure the paper wraps around it leaving no air holes.

Now you have a finished flag. Make several flags in coordinating papers and place inside a small vase of some sort. I used a creamer...I just filled it with macaroni noodles to hold the sticks in place. You could use anything from rice to floral foam. Whatever you have lying around. If you are using a clear container, try filling it with something festive like candy.





If you're making a cake bunting...all the steps are the same until you get to Step 5. Rather than wrapping the diamond around a lollipop stick, you will take 2 lollipop sticks (or dowels if you need the bunting to be taller) and tie some string between the two. The length of the string will depend on the width of your cake.

I like to have two rows of bunting, so I tie two strings...the bottom a little shorter than the top. I secure the knots with glue, so the strings won't slide up and down the sticks. Then simply wrap the glued diamonds around the strings. It will take several small diamonds to create one string of bunting. For the bunting pictured below which measure approximately 8" across, I used 15 diamonds...8 on the top, and 7 on the bottom.

I hope the tutorial made sense. I think I made it sound more complicated than it is. They sure are easy and CUTE!!

I'd love to see how yours turn out if you try them!!

Have a great day~

Linking to these great parties.

Silhouette Fun....that's a pun~

See, it's a pun because I made a Silhouette with my Silhouette. Punny, huh? Okay, enough of my lame-o humor. You'll have to forgive me cuz I found my first gray hair today, and I'm in mourning, so my sense of humor is off.

No really, I screamed when I found it...nearly gave the poor hubby a heart attack. He didn't get what I was all worked up about. See, the hubby started going gray in his twenties. But me? Until today, I prided myself that I've made it to the age of 30 without any gray hair...okay, okay, you caught me...I'm not 30...I'm 38...but that's even better, no gray hair. Until today that is. Darn it all.

But I digress. Where was I again? Oh yeah, silhouettes.

A while ago I saw these darling vases in the Ballards Catalog. Love them. And since my little DIY-loving self gets a thrill out of doing cost-next-to-nothing knock-offs, I just had to share with you what I made.

The former inhabitants of this house left us a storage room brimming with canning jars. So I went down to said storage room and dug up a couple of pretty ones that didn't have embossing on them.

Then using my Silhouette Digital Cutter I cut out a Silhouette using their Frosted Vinyl, which I then place on one of the jars.



Of course, after I removed the Silhouette and the oval ring I was left with a pretty reverse silhouette, which I then placed on the other jar. (Waste not, want not.)

I really like the way they turned out. Not quite as elegant as the Ballard's version. But cute nonetheless...and my version was FREE people. Can't beat that.

If you want to make some of these yourself, the good people of Silhouette are offering a fabulous deal right now...

Silhouette SD machine
1 roll black premium vinyl
1 roll frosted vinyl
1 roll transfer paper
Home Décor CD

all for $225

That's a huge savings! $395 worth of product for only $225!!

Already have a machine? No worries. They're also offering 25% off premium vinyl.

Just use the code SHABBY at check out to receive either of these great discounts!

Here's the link.

Then you can have some Silhouette punny fun too!!

Catch y'all later...I'm off to search for more gray hairs.

DIY Spa Birthday Party Invitations~

It's a big birthday for the Princess this year. She's turning 8! To celebrate we decided to throw a Spa party. We're going to have a whole gaggle of little girls over to be pampered...facial masks, painted nails, the works!


Of course, every great party starts with a great invitation. And since I was making the invitations anyway...the blogger in me decided to photograph the process so that I can give you all a tutorial on how to make cute Spa Birthday party invitations. You know, just in case you should ever be throwing a Spa party. ;-)

These invitations were adapted from some I found on Martha Stewart.com... because I believe in giving
credit where credit is due.

First up: The Supplies

You will need:

colored cardstock - now, I just happened upon some cute oval notecards at Target that I knew would make my life easier for this project. They were just the right size, in the right colors, and they included envelopes. So I bought two packages.

stick glue - my glue of choice when doing paper crafting.

scallop edge scissors

regular scissors

ribbon

Next: The Process:

1. The first thing I did was cut out a template. I should probably have done this using printer paper or something. But because I trust too much in my mad skills, I just started cutting one of the notecards. Then I ended up having to fold it in half to get it even, so I couldn't use it. Luckily, I had more cards than I needed, but HELLO?

2. Then I traced the template onto the other cards. You will trace as many as the number of invitations you are going to make. (makes sense, right?)

3. Cut out all the pieces you just traced. Since you probably wont be using notecards like I did, you will also want to cut rectangular pieces of cardstock in a coordinating color that are big enough to glue the cut pieces on and still have a border around the edge.

4. Now cut lengths of ribbon. I cut them long enough so that they could actually tie around a person's head. Of course you can cut them shorter if you so choose...just make sure that they are long enough to fit across the width of your sleepmask and still have ribbon dangling on both sides.

5. Using the stick glue, cover the back of your cut pieces entirely, then put a stripe of glue across the approximate center of your rectangle (remember I'm using the oval notecards...that's why there's no rectangle pictured). Lay the ribbon across the stripe of glue and then place the cut piece over the top.

6. Now using your scallop edge scissors, cut the rectangular piece to the same shape as the cut piece leaving approximately 1/4 inch showing.

7. Tie a card with the party details onto one of the strings.

8. Stuff your finished invitation into a cute envelope for delivery.

There you have it. Easy peasy Spa-themed invites. Enjoy!

linking to these parties:


Get Your Craft On Tuesday at Today's Creative Blog.

Easy Kiddo Silhouettes - A Tutorial~

Okay, okay. I know that silhouette tutorials are a dime a dozen on the interweb. And if I wasn't bringing a little something new to the table, I wouldn't bother you all with this. But I figured out a little something clever and I wanted to share. (If someone has already done this...please don't tell me. I like feeling clever.)

I needed some art for an awkward spot. Long and narrow. I have been mulling over what to do for some time, and finally settled on the idea of doing silhouettes of the kids. And because I wanted to use things I already have on hand, I decided to create the silhouettes out of adhesive vinyl. (And you don't need a cutting system to do this...just scissors!)

Here's what I did...


1. I took photos of each of my kiddos in profile. I took them in front of a window because the bright light from the window made the kids images darker and made their profiles easy to distinguish.

2. I carefully cut out each profile photo, and used the cut out as a template which I traced onto the paper backing of the vinyl.

Note: make sure that you reverse the image when you trace it onto the vinyl.

3. I then used scissors to cut out the vinyl along the lines I had traced.

4. Now here is where I think I am particularly clever. (Even more clever than choosing vinyl as my medium.) Rather than sticking the vinyl to paper...I stuck each onto the glass for the frame I was using. I used a credit card to carefully smooth out the bubbles.

Note: Whenever I see decent looking wood frames at the dollar store, I stock up on them. Then I have them on hand for projects or gifts etc. It's easy to simply spraypaint the wood to my desired color...in this case white.

5. Then I placed each piece of glass back in it's frame and put some pretty patterned paper in each. The great thing about this is that I can switch out the patterned paper and completely change the look! I also love the fact that sticking the silhouettes to the glass gives the finished piece a bit of a 3-D effect since the silhouette sits "above" the backing paper on top of the glass.

Here is where they are hanging...this is one of the project areas I am currently working on. Any guesses what this area is going to be?

Have a great day~

Linking to:

Flower Pins: How to Make 'em / How to Wear 'em~

Hello my lovelies!! I'm in a mood for pretty today, so I'm going to talk flower pins. Oh how I love me a pretty little posy.

I'm not going to tell you how to make these babies, because darling Emily over at Jones Design Company did a wonderful tutorial on how to make them a while back and I just can't improve on it, so I'm going to link to it instead. I am going to say, however, that most of the time I see these flowers with 3 or 4 circles, but I like them to be really full, so I use 7 or 8 (occasionally more). Other than that, I follow her process exactly.

Unless you take this little cutie into account. I found that if I held each section of the circles over the flame, they would pucker up all over. And I think they make cute (and unique) flowers this way as well.



But once you have a bunch of these pretties, what do you do with them? You can add clips to the back for your little girl's hair (or your own, for that matter.) Or you can add pins to the back like I did. Then you can put them on just about anything from a bib necklace....to a shirt....

White Shirt: DownEast Basics Gray Sweater and Earrings: Target

...to a pillow....to a hat.

On the Princess: Jacket and Jeans: Children's Place, Hat: Target

Makes you want to make some pretty flowers too, doesn't it?

Have a great day~

Create the Look of Etched Glass the Easy Way~

A while back I found myself at one of my favorite home decor stores. (Shocking, isn't it?) While I was browsing around, and getting inspired, I happened upon a sweet mirror with an etched monogram. It was so pretty, I thought it would go perfectly in the Princess' room. I came thisclose to buying it. But I talked myself out of it because (1) the Princess already has a pretty mirror in her room and (2) I had an idea.

The Princess' mirror BEFORE

So over the weekend I pulled out some new Premium Vinyl that I received from Silhouette. This vinyl is fabulous stuff. It's frosted, and when placed on glass it has the look of etching.

So this is what I did.

I found a font that was similar (possibly even identical) to the font used on the one I saw at the store - one of the great things about Silhouettes is that they can access any font that you have on your computer. Then I cut out a large uppercase "E" which is the Princess' first initial.

After that all I did was apply that baby to her existing mirror and VOILA! the look of etched glass without the etching cream and fuss! I LOVE IT! And so does the Princess.

The Princess' mirror AFTER

And have I got a deal for you. The week of January 17-22 Silhouette is offering 2 fabulous promotions.



The first - and this one is great - is a machine deal. You can purchase a Silhouette machine for $225. And not only do you get the machine. You will also receive 2 rolls of Premium Vinyl, 1 roll of transfer paper, and a Home Decor CD. That's a $395 value for only $225.

If you already have a Silhouette machine, don't worry, they haven't forgotten you. They are also offering 25% off the purchase of Premium Vinyl.

In order to receive these great deals simply enter the code "SHABBY" at checkout.

So get yourself some frosted vinyl and try creating the look of etched glass the easy way!

The legal stuff: I am an affiliate for Silhouette. I was given premium vinyl to try free of charge.

xoxo
Wendy