My sister has one of those Christmas villages, with all the houses and the snow and stuff. This year my nieces wanted to make her a little village in a giant Mason Jar. Luckily my mom has hundreds of Mason Jars in various sizes. Remember how we made all those Cookie-in-a-Jar guest gifts for my cousins baby shower? Yep, she still has tons.
She took the kids to the craft store, got all the little things to go in the jars and turned the kids loose.
Ian made one for me and my mom put together a stand for it. I am pretty sure this was a gallon mayonnaise jar, it’s huge.
My mom made some cream-colored playdoh so the items would stay upright in the jar. She also bought some of that Kinetic Sand in cream.
Ian placed all the items himself. I absolutely love it.
His gift gave me an idea for a Christmas gift for Ian’s teacher. Luckily my mom had all sorts of stuff left over so Ian could make another jar.
Before we started decorating I used the hot glue gun and glued six blobs on the bottom of the jar for stability.
I tried to use the playdoh, but didn’t like how the stuff wouldn’t really stay up right, unless you used a hold bunch of playdoh. I didn’t really like how the playdoh looked from the outside.
So after he placed all the stuff in the jar, I took it all out along with the playdoh. Then I put it all back in how he had it, and with his instructions, but I used hot glue to secure his decorations.
He was sad that we didn’t have any more reindeer, but at least we had Santa.
This jar wasn’t as large so he couldn’t fill it quite so full. After all was secure I dumped in the plastic snow that mom got at the craft store.
I really wish I had sprayed the inside bottom of the jar with that window snow paint. I think it would have looked great, but I thought of it after, and I don’t have any….but you can use that idea, it’s all good.
Since this is a teacher gift and made in a Mason Jar I thought these tags would be perfect!
I designed the tag in Silhouette Studio software. For the jar I used the print ‘n cut method, and cut the lid out in two layers.
Love the tag? I know, it’s super cute. And you are in luck, cause you can download here. For free.
This PDF file is the above printable tag for Christmas.
This SVG file is for those of you who would like to use it in your cutting machine. I did have to change the font for the SVG file because it was a little too thin for cutting.
Please note this design is for PERSONAL USE only please. Please do not forward, share, sell or distribute the files for any commercial purposes or claim as your own design. Thanks a bunch!
‘Tis the season for giving, and there is nothing better than giving someone a hand-made gift.
Except being able to giveaway a new Silhouette Portrait or Cameo, that is.
That’s right, a wonderful group of bloggers and I have gotten together to giveaway not one, but two Silhouettes. These ladies have also came up with a variety of holiday projects to make with your brand new Silhouette. Just follow the links at the end of this post for some inspiration.
DIY Christmas Coasters
I thought I would share some of the gifts I have been making for Christmas this year.
I made some Christmas coasters from tiles using a couple different methods, including etching cream, vinyl and sharpies.
I love making etched glass items and thought how great it would work on glass tiles. I found these blue glass tiles, they are clear glass with a backing that is colored, and knew they would be perfect for a snow themed coaster.
Since the tile would be a coaster I wanted the majority of the surface to be rough with the design smooth. I cut my design out of scrap vinyl, I have been told contact paper works too, and transferred the design on to the tile.
I like to apply my etching cream right next to the sink. I lay down wax paper for a work surface, and use gloves to protect my skin. At the end of the etching time I try to scrape the etching cream back into the bottle. No need to waste! Rinse the rest of the cream off the tile under cold running water. Peel off the stencil and wash again with soap and water.
Please follow the directions on your etching cream and be safe.
Because the tile is thick glass the unetched parts refract the light and distort the design when trying to take a picture.
I absolutely love how these turned out, but the elegance of them is lost in translation. They do look lovely all wrapped up in a bow.
Did you know that etching cream will also take the glaze off ceramic tiles?
This is even harder to photograph because of how subtle it is.
My first thought was to make a minimalist snowman design with vinyl, but then I decided to take it one step further. I used a vinyl stencil for the snowman base and a few circles of falling snow. I then applied the etching cream to the entire coaster as above. This left a rough background with a shiny snowman and snow.
After etching, washing and allowing to dry for at least a day, I applied the vinyl decorations, using outdoor vinyl if I had it. I love how these turned out, they are impressive with just the vinyl but when you look close you can see the subtle outline of the snowman and snow.
But why stop there? Sharpies on ceramics are always a fun craft.
Since I am pretty sure my 4-year-old draws better than me, I use my Silhouette to cut out stencils for all my Sharpie work as well. As I did with these Rudolph coasters and they are fantastic!
After coloring I cured the ink by placing the coasters in a cold over, turning on the heat to 350°F, baking for about 30 minutes, turning the oven off and letting the coasters come back to room temperature slowly.
Using the same sharpie and stencil method I made some Christmas light coasters as well.
On one set of coasters I simply colored the lights in. On the other set I used the negative of the stencil and used scattered dots to draw the lights. I should tell you that I did not use oil based markers or ceramic pens. I cured them just as I did with the Rudolph ones.
Some of the colors (uh, all but the red and green) did not hold up as well with the curing process. *sigh, lesson learned. So, if you are going to cure them in the oven, use ceramic markers. Another option would be to seal them after coloring with a clear waterproof sealant. Sealing them is still probably a good idea anyway.
Not to worry though. They can just be recolored and then sealed. (which admittedly I have not yet done, but plan on doing)
These coaster would make great gift to with a new mug and box of hot chocolate, coffee or tea. *spoiler alert
Silhouette Giveaway!
I know, I know, here is the part of the post you are most excited about. As I said above, my Silhouette Challenge buddies in partnership with Silhouette America are hosting a mega-huge giveaway for not one…but two winners! The prizes up for grabs?
First prize: The NEW Silhouette Cameo Machine and Designer Edition Super Bundle! $406.93 value.
Silhouette CAMEO®
Designer Edition Software
Dust Cover
$25 Download Card
Four Essential Silhouette Tools (hook, spatula, scraper, pick-me-up™)
Second prize: Silhouette Portrait Machine and Rhinestone Starter Kit! $219.98 value.
Pretty sweet, huh? We want you to have the chance to get that Silhouette machine that might still be on your wish list.
To enter: just click on the image below or on this link, either will take you to the entry form. Because of my many blog friends who helped make this giveaway possible, you have 42 potential entries, which means a lot of winning power. So, hurry up and enter!
{This giveaway runs from today through Monday, December 15th at 11:59p eastern and is open to anyone 18 years of age or older with a U.S. or Canada mailing address. You can read the rest of the terms and conditions in the giveaway window. You only need to enter the giveaway on one blog.}
My Silhouette Challenge buddies and I are all sharing projects on our blogs today, so pursue the projects below for a wealth of Silhouette inspiration!
If you read my race recap about the half-marathon I ran this summer you saw that I made some motivational tattoos for my cousin and me to wear.
It was the first time I used the Silhouette brand Temporary Tattoo paper, but I knew that I would be using it again the following month for Sid’s birthday party. I ran into a few issues as a first time user and thought I would share them, in hopes that other’s don’t have the same troubles.
First I made my design. One of my favorite motivational quotes for running is “I’m not running half of anything. I’m crushing all 13.1 miles.” There are a few variations, but I like this wording the best. I made one for my cousin and one for me. I had room for one more quote, and since I had two arms I also used “The moment you want to quite, is the moment when you need to keep pushing.”
I sized out the space on my arm and made a box in Silhouette Studio. I then typed out my sayings and changed the fonts, sizes and colors for specific words. I then used the offset tool to create my cut lines around the words. Remember, anything that is white in your design will be clear on the tattoo, and your skin will show through.
My first instinct was to make a close-in offset, as I would when cutting other media.
Here is the problem: when you cut it, it cuts through the paper backing. So now you have all the words in different pieces that you would have to place on your arm individually. So again, remember that the tattoo paper is clear, and make your offset big enough that all the words cut as one piece.
And there is no reason you need to waste time cutting out the middle of your o’s or other inner parts since the paper is clear. Release the compound path,
select all the unwanted parts, then delete them.
Now you are left with a nice group of text that will stay together once cut.
Check out your cut lines, make sure you are not cutting out the words you are printing, but just the offset you just made.
Once you have your design and cut lines all set, flip your image horizontally. This is very important when doing something with words, or your words will be backwards.
The key to the temporary tattoos is Silhouette‘s print and cut feature using the software’s registration marks. I don’t know about you, but when I print and cut, I change the paper to ‘letter’ (because that is the size of the paper I print on) and adjust my registration mark settings to the smallest available. One day when I was printing something small I realized I don’t have to waste the whole piece of paper. I say ‘waste’ because once I printed the registration marks, I couldn’t reprint (for cutting) on that same piece of paper.
So I changed the size of the paper, I know it seems like a simple statement. But I made the paper size just larger than my image size, with the registration marks, and that left the rest of the paper blank, for use again! So simple, yet so helpful.
The tattoo paper is a bit pricey, about five bucks a sheet; the pack comes with two sheets and is priced at $9.99. You can find it on sale at Amazon, and sometimes through Silhouette. I didn’t want to waste any of the paper, and I wasn’t ready to print out the favors for Sid’s party, so I just adjusted the size of the paper to fit my quotes. That way I still had half a sheet of unprinted paper I could use again.
Printing.
First you want to make sure when you print, that you print the lines of the words, but do not print the lines of the offset. (Note: this feature is different if you are using V3)
Here is where I had the main problem that I really didn’t want to admit to anyone. It’s a little embarrassing.
I opened the pack of tattoo paper and pulled out the first sheet on top. The instructions say to print on shiny side then peel of green backing to apply adhesive material. So I printed on the shiny side.
My ink wouldn’t dry. I left it while I went to work, when I got home it still wasn’t dry. I wiped it off, tried different print settings, still wouldn’t dry.
I googled instructions looking for a video tutorial. Finally when watching my second video I wondered why their paper was white when my paper was clear with a green paper backing….
Maybe I have to use my own paper, but that seemed silly because the instructions talk about printing on the shiny side…
I went back to the package and looked inside it. Behind the two pieces of clear paper with green backing was two pieces of white paper with a shiny side.
*hand hits forehead*
Start over. Printed on the shiny side of the white paper, and ink came out dry and sharp.
Followed directions by adding the adhesive layer. That is the clear paper with the green backing that I was trying to print on first.
This is actually a picture of the tattoos I made for my son, but this is how you apply the adhesive layer
Because I wasn’t using the whole sheet of paper, I used a paper-cutter to trim down both the white sheet and the clear adhesive sheet before joining them. Then used my Silhouette to cut out the tattoos.
They look great and just the motivation we needed.
Now that I am a pro at the temporary tattoos, I made some as favors for Sid’s party. However, I neglected to flip the image horizontally, so the words were backwards. There is always something with me, right? I decided to let it ride (yep, pun intended) as the guest were toddlers who really couldn’t read anyway.
I am already planning my tattoos for my Halloween costume!
I love chalkboard art. I love that it can be changed really easily, just erase it and write something new.
The problem I have….
I have horrible handwriting and I can’t draw a stick figure.
Ok, seriously, look at the one on the left, would you want that on your dresser if you were a kid? Can you say SCAR-RY. Nothing about it says ‘I love you.’
But I found these super cute little chalkboards at the craft store and a chalk marker and wanted to make something for my son. So I thought I would turn to my Silhouette Cameo and some vinyl to make a stencil.
I just colored in the lines of the stencil using the chalk marker. Much cuter, and way easier than writing.
I made two stencils because I have two chalkboards. There is no way I would have been able to draw this moon by hand.
The marker says it will come off with water, but as you can see with the moon one, it doesn’t really come all the way off if you leave it on for a while.
Ian really likes his little signs, even if he can’t read them yet. They are super easy to make, and super easy to change the sentiment.
I Tri and Craft 