Vinyl Tutorial & {Giveaway}

I am excited to share this easy vinyl tutorial with you today but I am even more excited that one of you has a chance to win a shop credit to my favorite vinyl supplier, Expressions Vinyl!! 

Before we get into the tutorial I know what you really want to see, my stock pile of vinyl!

 (you never know what color you are going to want)

 (gotta keep the storage stylish or spirited in this case)

 (this one is t-shirt vinyl or heat transfer)

 (these are my scrap drawers)

(and this is my BFF - my 5 yard roll of outdoor while vinyl - which happens to be on sale until 5/28 with the code ROLLING12)
Ok, so enough with my vinyl hoarding photos - let's get on with the tutorial and giveaway!
I want to show you how I made this adorable frame!

First, you will need a 12x12 frame with a small opening (I picked this one up at Walmart) that you've painted the color of your choice.Second, you will need to open up a new tab in Silhouette Studio and change the dimensions of the page to match your frame dimensions - makes it a whole lot easier to understand the scale.

 The font I am showing here is called Cheri but it's slightly different than the one on the frame which I believe is called Tina's Baby Shower.

 Always start your cursor at the very edge of the page when typing, and use a small font. The easy of this project is in letting the software adjust the size of your font for you to match the width you have chosen for your words. Here I picked 11" as my width.

Always use the bottom right hand corner to pull your words to the desired width, this will automatically size you font so that your phrase fits on the line within the dimensions that you want.

 I picked to transfer my phrases in 2 groups, to use less transfer paper mostly, but you can do it all as one. Select all of the lines you want to be aligned by holding down the shift key and selected them one at a time anad then go to Objects>Align>Align Center.

 After you have all your lines where you want them load your vinyl into your machine, select the Silhouette Vinyl from the Cut Settings and then adjust the speed down to around a 5 since letters are a more detailed cut than a shape so I like to go slower. On my machine I have found that a blade depth of 2 is PERFECT for cutting vinyl! Once the cutting is done weed your vinyl and transfer it onto your frame using transfer tape so everything stays aligned just as you cut it out. You can put a clear coat over  your vinyl or you can just leave it as is!

Now for the REALLY fun part! Expressions Vinyl wants to give one of YOU a $25 shop credit so that you can buy some vinyl, too!




To enter go visit Expressions Vinyl and come back and tell me your top 3 colors you would love to buy with your winnings.
For extra entries (please leave a separate comment for each):

1. Like Expressions Vinyl on Facebook
2. Sign up for their Special Offers e-mail List (it's on the left sidebar of their shop)
3. Follow Expressions Vinyl on Pinterest 

It's that simple!!

The giveaway will end Saturday, May 26th at 8pm (eastern daylight time).

You will have 48 hours to contact me to claim your prize.

Must be 18 years or older.

linking up: tatertots & jello

Tie Dye {Ombre} Wreath

Let's be honest, polka dots and bold stripes are this southern girl's go to. So when I was picked to do a tutorial on Tulip Tie Dye I was both excited and completely out of my comfort zone. The last time I tie dyed anything was probably in elementary school and I remember my mother saying she was never doing it again because it was not only such a process, but a complete mess as well. So I was out of my comfort zone, scared of irreversibly staining my house in some way, and clueless as to what I was going to tie dye that wasn't going to be some hippie t-shirt I would probably never wear - sounds like the start to a promising project!

It wasn't until I was researching how many different ways you could use the Tulip Tie Dye that I started to get excited. You can make stripes, paint your own designs freehand, tie dye fun shapes - the list goes on and on and you can find instruction on how to do all these methods in the pamphlet that comes in the box or right here online. After reading through all of the methods the Ombre technique sounded like something I would love.

Next problem was, what am I going to use this fun tie dye technique on? A shirt, a skirt, a scarf, maybe a wooden frame? Nah, you know what I am going to tie dye - A WREATH!! I debated between buying cotton ribbon to dye and then fashion into a wreath or tie dying some white cotton to make into a fabric wreath but ultimately I decided to make a white fabric wreath and then use the ombre tie dying technique right on the finished wreath. Taking the first spray of dye onto my luxe & lovely wreath was really, really hard for me, but it was SO worth it in the end - take a look for yourself before I explain how to create this look for yourself!

Supplies:

Tulip One-Step Tie-Dye Kit (includes gloves, rubber bands, idea guide and dye w/ bottles)

Water

Spray Bottle

Surface Cover

"Blank Canvas"

Here is my blank canvas. A 10" white cotton fabric wreath.

Following the instructions for the Ombre technique I put on my gloves (trust me, this is one of the most important steps of the process if you don't want blue nail beds for a week), mixed my Turquoise dye bottle from the kit with water and shook until all the powder disolved. I then transfered my dye to a spray bottle.

1) Starting with the bottom of your "canvas" you want to spray an even line of dye from left to right and back. Depending on how tall your "canvas" is adjust how tall your first line of dye will be. Nothing about this has to be exact but having a game plan will help.  2) After you are satisfied with your bottom layer, refill your spray bottle with water to dilute the dye and then spray your canvas again, going a little higher. 3) Repeat this process until you reach the top of where you want your "canvas" to be dyed. I decided that I wanted the very top to still be white so I didn't go all the way up. 4) Wrap your canvas in plastic and allow to set for 6-8 hours.

If you are dying a shirt or other clothing items that can be washed, follow the instruction in the kit on how to set your item. Obviously I can not put a wreath through the wash :)

 I chose to work outside on my front porch using a card table that I covered with the surface cover included in my box. I STRONGLY recommend you get this cover if it isn't included in your kit. It made clean up a breeze and I was more at ease while doing the project. You can see in this photo how well the cover protected my card table. Because this technique calls for you to spray the dye it tends to not stay in one place.

After letting the wreath dry over night I hung it on my front door and Ta-da! A beautiful ombre wreath that I think would be PERFECT for a pool party, a baby shower, a birthday, or just an everyday decoration on your door!

While I was dying my wreath I decided to try the technique on a T-shirt, too (just in case the wreath was a total flop). I cut out a freezer paper stencil of a turtle and ironed it on the shirt before I started. I wouldn't totally recommend that method of you really want the negative area under your cut out to stay sharp because as your freezer paper gets wet from the dye it starts to lift off the shirt. But you could still see the turtle faintly after I was done so my daughter was pretty excited about it all!

Tulip One-Step Tie-Dye kits are available at Walmart, Walmart Canada, Michaels, JoAnn, A.C. Moore, Hobby Lobby, Hancock Fabrics, Meijer. Tie dye kit contents and colors may vary by store.

For more information on the product and to see many more beautiful examples of how to use them I recommend you find ILoveToCreate.com through any of these forms of social media (Facebook is always my favorite but maybe not yours!)

Twitter: http://twitter.com/ilovetocreate (@ilovetocreate)

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ilovetocreate andhttp://www.facebook.com/ILoveTulipFashionArt

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/ilovetocreate

I wrote this post as part of a paid campaign with iLoveToCreate.com and Blueprint Social. The opinions in this post are 100% my own. 

I would love to see what Tie-Dye projects you come up with - if you have any other good ideas let me know and I can try it out for you possibly!!

I am linking up at : Serenity Now, Tatertots & Jello, Tip Junkie

Organized Travel {part 2}

Here is part 2 in my series of organized packing!

Recently I've been researching all things Walt Disney World all over mommy & travel blogland for our upcoming vacation. Now, the fact that I was researching these blogs in the first place is a little funny because I grew up 25 minutes from Walt Disney World and have been there hundreds of times. But now I live 3 states away and have 2 kiddos (4 & almost 2) to pack and account for so I thought it couldn't hurt to find some packing tips. When researching endless blogs and tips about traveling to Walt Disney World I kept coming across variations of the same advice - pack each day's outfit in it's own bag so that every thing is easy to find! How great a tip is that? Most people just threw everything into ziplock bags, which would be easiest, but I felt bad wasting 16 gallon sized zip top bags so I made my own! These bags (or packets as I like to call them) are VERY easy to make, I am talking very limited sewing knowledge needed, and can be tailored to any size packet you want or need. If you want to get all fancy you can add Velcro (like I did to my first batch of 4) or a zipper if you have those kind of mad sewing skills that I lack. I picked my dimensions (shown below) for pure ease (also known as laziness) - most fabric is 44 inches wide, so I picked 22" and my long side and half a yard is 18" - so 9" was my height. Easy to cut/rip the fabric and no real rulers needed - my kind of cutting.

Supplies:
Cotton Fabric (1 yard will net you 8 packets if you use my dimensions)
Scissors
Iron
Thread
Sewing Machine

As I said in the beginning you can change the dimensions to accommodate your needs. We have 2 small girls and have no problem fitting an outfit, panties and socks into each packet.

I hope you find this little sewing project easy, cute, and smart!! I've packed everything up and this stacked so nicely in our duffle bags. I can't wait to get to Florida and start using them!

Teacher Appreciation {Week} 2012

It's teacher appreciation week so I wanted to share with you some of the fun things I made to show our daycare/preschool providers how much we appreciate them (after all they are the ones potty training baby toddler P right now)! Our daycare gave out a schedule for the week as to what we should bring if we wanted to participate. Monday was just filling out one of their comment type cards to write our appreciation down so it could be shared with the higher ups but I felt like that wasn't enough and made each classroom a new clipboard!

Tuesday was Flower Day where each child was to bring in a single flower for their teachers so that with all the children bringing flowers each teacher would have her own bouquet at the end of the day. When I went to Target that day all they had were closed tulips or small carnations that they wanted $10 for, no thanks! So I made some paper flowers for the teachers, each of whom thanked me personally for how cute they were.

Wednesday, today, was a pot luck lunch for the teachers and everyone signed up to bring a dish. I brought my famous (I use that term lightly) corn salad that I will have to share with you someday if you'd like that sort of thing.

Thursday is candy day. I used a new shaped I purchased in the Silhouette store to make these cute mini Happy Meal boxes and created a tag to match. Inside the box is candy and a gift card to McDonald's!

I am not sure what Friday is because, well, that's 2 days away and I wouldn't want to be THAT on top of my game now, would I?!?

How have you shown the teachers in your life that they are appreciated lately?

Cinco de {Derby}

Since we've moved to Charlotte, NC we have annually attended our friends' derby party and really look forward to dressing up and doing a little friendly wagering on the 2 most exciting minutes in sports. We were so sad when the party had to be cancelled this year (understandably so since they are in the middle of a big move) that last weekend on our drive home from Disney we decided to throw a little impromptu Derby Party of our own. Seeing as how the Kentucky Derby fell on Cinco de Mayo this year we decided to kill 2 birds with 1 stone and threw a Cinco de Derby party!! The decorations were minimal but included a photo booth back drop with a crepe paper streamer background and banner I made to match the logo I made for the party, along with some photo booth props and a couple little signs here and there. A big thank you to paper & cake for having the cutest fiesta photo props in her online store! Even though I am a huge fan of my Silhouette Cameo sometimes it's a heck of a lot fast to just print, cut, party (r)  :) Also, a shout out to Lizard & Ladybug for sharing her delicious Beergarita recipe with me which was a huge hit!
Here are some of the pictures that I can show you - I promised I'd keep the photo booth photos to ourselves!!

Organized {Travel} part 1

Hey everyone! You may or may not know that my family and I just took a 10 day trip to Florida to see family & friends as well as to celebrate my little girl's 2nd birthday. Packing up a family to head out for 10 days can be frustrating and overwhelming (if you ask me) so I always try to come up with ways to keep us organized on the road.

My husband and I are list makers. I find it very soothing to have a list of everything I need to pack. We tried traveling without a list a couple times last year and it never turned out well. This year I took our list making a step further and bought a laminating machine while at Costco one weekend. So now I have pretty laminated check lists that can be checked off not only when you initially pack but when you go to repack up your hotel, too, hopefully lessening the amount of stuff you leave behind.

Now, if there is a fun craft type tool laying around you KNOW I can't just let it sit there and not find other fun ways to use it. I mean that would be wasteful and we don't want to be wasteful! So while packing up our toiletries and trying to corral all the ponytail holders it takes to tame the manes of my little ladies I had an idea - put the ponytail holders on a metal binder ring and attach it to their duffel bags! But I couldn't stop there, they needed a cute little tag with their name as well. Since this was all last minute while I was in a packing and wreath finishing frenzy I just punched out a pretty piece of scrapbook paper with my fun paper punch and wrote their names on the back with a sharpie before sending it through the laminater a couple times. Having those ponytail holders easily accessible the entire trip was definitely a time and frustration saver for me and a bonus is that I was able to send the ponytail  binder rings to school to keep in their cubbies for whenever we don't have time to do hair in the morning (and let's keep it real, that's 50% of the time)!

 And now, just for fun, a couple photos for our vacation :)

 Princesses are even better when you don't have to wait in line to see them!

 That's the birthday gal and she is quite the hugger!

 Downtown Disney is always a must stop for us while we are in Orlando!