For The Love of Vinyl

I love cutting vinyl on my Silhouette Cameo cutting machine.  I didn't know that vinyl could be so much fun!  I am inspired by projects I see on Pinterest, blogs and Facebook groups...so may ideas, so little time.  I started out putting single colored vinyl on things like my coffee cup, Brian's motorcycle and a tray for my poker money.

 Nothing is safe.  Even my kayak got decals.

Then I started layering colors...like my current drinking tumbler.  Monograms and mandalas are big in the Silhouette community.

I can cut decals using premade files or using the Silhouette software I can create my own designs.  I had a lot of fun creating this cutting board for my son-in-law (a Miami Dolphins fan).

Another fun project was temporary tattoos for a golf tournament.  I also created stencils and etched glasses for the tournament.

My motto is ... "I Can Make That".  One morning I saw some handy measurement conversion decals on a Facebook group.  Three hours later I had them on my kitchen cupboards...no breakfast, no shower, still in pajamas...but I got them done!

Same story with these Starbucks cups.  Eff from Whatcha Workin On blog shared the cut files for adding a personalized band on a Starbucks cup.  The authentic cups from Starbucks have the mermaid already on it (far left).  I also found some plain cups from Dollar Tree and created my own mermaid (far right).  I need more practice to get the name band centered on the Starbuck mermaid (middle left).  The Dollar Tree cup isn't any easier...weeding the small pieces in the mermaid is difficult (middle right).  After making a few cups, I found several eBay sellers offering personalized cups for under $10.  It reminds me of the MasterCard commercial...$250 for a the Silhouette machine, $40 on a bunch of vinyl, 5 hours and 3 failed attempts...making my own...priceless.

I have graduated to Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV) and made a couple shirts.  I thought of the yoga shirt after seeing several "Straight Outta" designs.  Then I googled the yoga idea and found it for sale.  I guess there are no new ideas.

I even ironed HTV onto toilet paper.

My favorite project is personalized ring dishes.  They are great gifts.  I found lots of examples on Pinterest. and made a few before I focuses on my favorite...an initial with a name.

Of course, my favorite project is always my current project.  I am working on a wood sign to hang over a door in my kitchen.  This project involves fun fonts, wood, vinyl and my Silhouette machine....Oh My!  I will save the details for another blog post.