Silhouette Heat Transfer Project and $250+ GIVEAWAY!!!

UPDATE -- GIVEAWAY CLOSED.
Winner is #3850 Jess @ If Only They Would Nap.

  Have I ever told you about my Airstream Dream?? 

{Pinterest}

It's always in the back of my mind.

I have a folder of camper ideas on Pinterest and I've  posted about it too. 

I would love to get an old Airstream and restore it.  

It's one of my life dreams.

{Pinterest}

My husband? He's not on board yet - lol! 

In the meantime, I am collecting ideas.

And when Silouette contacted me about their Heat Transfer discount this month, I decided that I would love to make a little Camper Tee.

I will be posting a tutorial soon.

Layering heat transfer colors together is a little tricky and I have some tips I will share.

Happy Camper!!! 

I am happy with the tee's until I can get the real thing :) 

And guess what???? 

The Silhouette folks contacted me to see if I wanted to give a Silhouette machine away this month to one of YOU! 

Of course I said yes! 

I can honestly say that the Silhouette machine is my favorite crafting tool ever! 

So this is what you will get: 

• A Silhouette SD Machine

• 3 Rolls of Silhouette Heat Transfer Material

AND, I have a GREAT discount code for you too: 

Get a  Silhouette + heat transfer bundle for only $219.

Awesome!!

Included in the bundle:


1 Silhouette SD machine

1 package white flocked heat transfer material

1 package teal smooth heat transfer material

1 package dark pink smooth heat transfer

Use Code: TATER

A Silhouette + heat transfer bundle for only $219.

That is an awesome deal --- more than $120 off!!

Included in the bundle:

1 Silhouette SD machine

1 package white flocked heat transfer material

1 package teal smooth heat transfer material

1 package dark pink smooth heat transfer

Use Code: TATER

The promo runs from now (Tuesday, May 17) to Wednesday, May 25th. 

If you aren’t sure how to enter, Click 
and add the Silhouette SD to your cart. 

When you checkout and use the
coupon code: TATER. 

The heat transfer material will automatically be
added to your order. 

Here's how YOU can win YOUR OWN 

Silhouette machine and heat transfer supplies: 

• Head over to the Silhouette site - what is your favorite color of heat transfer material? one entry. 

• Leave a message and like the Silhouette Facebook page. one entry each. 

• Leave a comment or follow the Silhouette blog - where you can get great tutorials. one entry. 

•  Tweet, facebook or post this giveaway on your blog. one entry each. Tweet -- {"Enter to win a Fabulous Silhouette craft cutter @jenjentrixie's blog http://bit.ly/chqT0C"}

And if you want another entry: 

• "Like" the TT&J facebook page -- when it hit 10,000 likes I will be having an awesome giveaway!! {It's a place where I love to connect with people and share projects} one entry.

{Giveaway ends May 23rd}

xoxo

***And, if you already have a Silhouette and want to get some Heat Transfer material for fun Summer fabric projects, all Heat Transfer Material in any color is 25% off from now until the 24th -- just type in TATER in the discount code box at checkout :)

Have a Happy Day!!! 



PS -- Check out the other Silhouette giveaways this month at: 

Decor Chick

WhipperBerry

eighteen25

Lil Blue Boo

Southern Hospitality

A pretty wedding gift idea -- Etched Chevron Glasses and Pitcher {Tutorial}

You may have noticed that I have a new obsession lately -- Chevron or Zig Zag Patterns.

{my painted Chevron Rug}

{Chevron Pennants} 

 {Chevron Summertime Subway Art project}

And since it’s Spring, with weddings in the air. I thought a really cool wedding or engagement gift would be a set of Etched Chevron Glasses with a matching Pitcher.



 

I took a Chevron I had downloaded from the Silhouette Online Store and I measured around the outside of each glass. And I also measured around the widest point in the pitcher. Now let me say that I don’t recommend trying to make this with a pitcher that is rounded. A flat, cylinder pitcher would be much easier. I didn’t realize this when I started the project – lol!

I created a Silhouette document with the Chevron pattern. I decided to make two Chevron stripes on each glass, so I needed to print out three chevrons for each glass. But if you want to make more stripes, you need one more vinyl stripe than the number of stripes you want to make.

Then print off the vinyl and apply each of the Chevron stripes to the glasses. Once you get the bottom stripe on the glass, you can match up the zig zags pretty easily.

Now the pitcher is a different story. I ended up only being able to use two of the stripes on the pitcher because the way the pitcher is shaped made it impossible to match up the zig zags. But if you bought a straight pitcher shaped more like the glasses, you can do the same thing that you did with the glasses.

Once the vinyl is applied to the glasses and pitcher, use the smoothing tool to make sure that there are no gaps in the vinyl that the etching cream can get under. And make sure to protect your work surface. The Silhouette Etching Cream directions says to not use a paint brush to apply the cream, only use the smoothing tool. I found it was very difficult to get the cream smooth without using a paint brush. So this is what I did --- I used a foam craft brush to brush on the etching cream on the glasses and then smoothed the cream over the whole surface with the smoothing tool.

Then leave the cream on for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, rinse off the cream with water. if there are streaks or areas that didn’t take the cream that well, you can apply another layer of the cream. I did this with the pitcher. I had to apply the cream twice to get an even coverage.

And there you have it – a unique wedding gift or addition to your place setting for a party or get-together this Spring!!

Try the etching cream --- you will love all of the fun gifts and home décor ideas that you can make using it.



**Now - you could totally make this without a Silhouette machine too. Simply take tape and tape off the chevron pattern and then apply the cream the same as above. And voila -- you have a pretty wedding gift! 

xoxo

Have a Wonderful Day!!! 

Teacher Appreciation Gift Idea -- Make Personalized Tote Bags!!

It's Teacher Appreciation Week!! 

I'd love to share what we are giving our wonderful teachers this year.

I recently saw some cute pillows on Freshly Picked and thought they were so funny and whimsical.

{Freshly Picked}

I thought I would take that concept and make some tote bags for my kids’ teachers this year.

I designed the face on my Silhouette machine and printed it off using heat transfer material.

{If you do this, remember to mirror your image before you print it out}

We added the teacher's name and a little apple popping up for a whimsical touch!!

Once the image was printed out, I took off the excess heat transfer tape, leaving only the images I wanted to use. Then I ironed the image onto plain tote bags. I found a four pack of tote bags at Hobby Lobby for $6.99. So each tote bag is less than $2. Such a good deal!!

My kids had a great time designing the tote bags with me. They think the bags are so fun! We thought it was cute to have the apples popping up from the bottom of the bag.

The last thing I did was make some cute little bows with each teacher's favorite colors.

I made a 6 inch wide by 8 inch long piece of material. I sewed it inside out on three sides and then turned it right side out and sewed the last side shut.

Then I took a button cover and covered it with some coordinating fabric and glued it in the middle of the fabric with fabric glue. 

So now I have a fun bag that their teachers can use as a beach bag or to carry things in. 

Plus, I am going to fill the bag with some goodies, depending on what the teacher likes. 

Some ideas that would be fun are a beach towel and some flip flops. Or even a  

gift certificate to their favorite store or restaurant.

Now if you want to make this and don’t have a craft cutter like Silhouette, there are two other ways you can make these totes.

• The first is use heat transfer material and trace the image on with a pencil and cut it out. 


• The second is you can paint the face and name on your bag --  use some paint medium along with regular craft paint.

Be sure to check out all of the great Teacher Appreciation Ideas at Skip to My Lou!! 

I also had a reader who saw this post and made her own version of teacher appreciation tote bags:

Check them out at 36th Avenue!!

xoxo 

Guest Project -- Love Birds Wall Hanging {tutorial}

 Hello all you wonderful Tatertots &Jello followers! 

I am beyond excited to be here sharing a tutorial with you today. I met Jen at CHA this past January and wasn't a bit surprised at how nice she was. If you get a chance to meet her you won't be sorry.

 My name is Dresden and I absolutely love blogging! 

My blog is dresdencarrie where I share tutorials, my favorite things, recipes, and just about everything else. I work full time as a Graphic Designer for Silhouette America and love it! It is such a fun place to work and I am so grateful for my job. In my free time I post on my blog and sew. My mom taught me to sew growing up and I am so glad she did, it is my favorite hobby.

Today I am sharing a tutorial for a wall hanging I made out of some scraps of fabric and an old frame I had laying around (actually a wedding gift that I wasn't too fond of :))! The inspiration for this piece came from a pillow found here and a card found here.

 First I took this frame and painted it a nice white color so it would stand out against the fabric I chose.

 Next I cut out all these little birds using the Silhouette with the Fabric Interfacing on my fabric.

Then I arranged the birds on my piece of fabric, which actually didn't take too long after I got out my giant ruler.
You want to know my favorite thing about the fabric interfacing from Silhouette? It is double sided, so once I had the birds in place I simply ironed them on and they stayed in place the whole time I was sewing them on. You could of course use the no-sew interfacing, but I prefer the sewable because I love the stitched look.
I chose a tiny zig-zag stitch in pink to give them a little more character. After sewing it you could either wash the entire piece or do what I did...use my fingernails to fray the edges.
Once they were sewn on I put it in the frame and there ya go!

 It's been a real treat being here today! I hope you'll come visit me over at dresdencarrie real soon!

Thanks Dresden. that is absolutely adorable!!

Check out these other wonderful ideas that Dresden has shared:

{Check out this beautiful Ruffled Skirt that she made - love!}

 {Cute LOVE pillow tut}

{How cute is this Ruffle Shirt? So pretty}

You will love following Dresden. Plus, you can find out all of the Silhouette updates :) 

And, she designs some of the fun Silhouette Online Studio images like this one {one of my favorites}:

photo courtesy of LMM

And head over to her blog for a really fun GIVEAWAY today!! 

dresdencarrie





xoxo

PS –   I Love To Create is hosting a LIVE party called Let’s Create It Live which takes place TODAY from 9-11 am PST. with fun projects and $300 worth of prizes to give away!!

It’s going to be fun!!! 

Live TV by Ustream