Dull Dining

After we moved into our new place, I felt like our dining room seemed a bit dull. I am not one to have things scatter every part of every wall but I definitely think there needs to be a good balance or else it just seems too plain. I hung this plate rack and put these lovely (clearance) plates on it. But it still seemed to be missing something. I decided a little vinyl would do the trick. I whipped out my Cricut and whipped up this saying. I love the space now! It was just what it needed to give it some added umph!Too cheesy? Not for me. It reminds me every time we eat that it is the memories that we should be focusing on and maybe less on the messes!

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Mother's Day Gift Idea

Originally posted at It's So Very Cheri for a blog swap. Reposting this here in case any of you missed this project, and for blog keepsake purposes!

The project I am sharing for you today was SUPER easy. Onto the tutorial....
Start with a cute plate. I got mine from Walmart for a dollar or two.
Then design your phrase in Make the Cut.
This is one of the print preview modes so you can more easily see what will print.Here is the machine doing the work for you and cutting out the vinyl.Here is a sample after it has been cut.
After it is cut out, peel off the main background and toss it.
Use your transparency tape and adhere it to the whole word strip. I only wanted to do the top word first, so I cut mine in half lengthwise so I could adhere the first word by itself.
Once the word 'together' was in place, then I lined up the second word strip and stuck it to the plate once it was positioned correctly.
Wah-lah! It is a fun saying and an easy Mother's Day gift. I know it was last Sunday and all but I couldn't spoil the surprise. So this is also a fun gift for anyone that needs a quick pick me up! Change the saying to fit whatever the occasion! You could also include a plate hanger or plate stand to display...but since I am in the middle of the move, I don't really have one out to use for pics. So you will have to visualize that one on your own!

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Dino Party Hats

Here is a repeat of a blog swap I did over at The Country Chic Cottage here. I am reposting it on my blog for keepsake purposes.

If you haven't been following me this week, I am planning a dinosaur birthday party for my son. Today I am continuing on with my Dinosaur Party stuff for my little man, Hudson. He is turning 3 and he needed something to help him feel like the special birthday boy. Enter the freaky Spongebob party hat. Sorry to anyone who is into Spongebob. We just aren't in that stage yet and I am not really into characters. (I know, my poor kids!) Plus, Spongebob was the only party hats that Walmart had.
So I took apart the hat and laid it out as flat as I could get it. I found some fun scrapbook paper at the store to cover up Spongebob's shining face. Be sure to place the hat face down onto the backside of the paper to trace...otherwise it will be backwards and although it can be fixed, it does matter a little. (Yep, I did it the 'wrong' way that is how I know!!)Use a bit of spray adhesive and spray the face and the backside of the paper. Let it sit for a minute and adhere it together. I decided I wanted to add some dino bling to this so I took my png file and imported it into Make the Cut. It automatically traces the image right there in the program.
Then I cut it out with my Cricut.I took off the scrap of paper to reveal my cute little dino ready to be placed on the hat.
I used spray adhesive on the back of that and stuck it on like so. I decided it needed something a bit more birthday-ish too.
I grabbed some curling ribbon and added it to the top. I just got lazy and taped it inside in the pointy part. And like that, we go from Spongebob to Dinosaurs. I can't wait to see what Hudson thinks of it!

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New Digi Site

For any of those new to digi scrapbooking or just looking for a new fun site, I just came upon Lettering Delights. I added a button to the left side of my blog for it too or you can click below on the picture. It is a GREAT site. You can sign up for a free account and for their newsletter and you will get a TON of free fonts and other digi goodies! I highly recommend it. I just did over the weekend and was really surprised at how good their freebies were!! PLUS, right now it is dollar days there. They have so many cute things that are only $1 (I think there are over 3000 items!!) I spent WAY too long looking through them over the weekend. Plus, they have tons of graphics/fonts that you can use with Make the Cut and cut out on your Cricut or other cutting machine. Anyone thinking vinyl or fabric projects?? Maybe even throw in a cute card or two??! I am SO excited to make some fun stuff. No worries, I will share the cute stuff I make...but if you want to get in on it too, go check them out. Plus, its free!!

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Laptop Vinyl Tutorial

I mentioned to you that my mom and I did some Cricut Vinyl cutting when she visited for these tiles I showed you here.

I was so excited to finally be able to cut vinyl that I had to do another project right off of the bat! I figured once I could cut vinyl I would be doing it 24/7. Guess that isn't entirely true but I still do enjoy being able to cut it whenever I want! I decided to cut out something fun for my hubby to have on his laptop. He is a law student, as I have mentioned before and I figured that he needed a little color pop to an otherwise boring looking laptop! He is a big fan of the Atlanta Braves so we decided to make him a fun logo. I found a picture online of their logo and saved it to my computer.**By the way, if you are going to be using Sure Cuts a Lot, you will need to make the jpeg a svg file using the free program Inkscape. Once you open the jpeg up in Inkscape, use your black arrow tool on the left to select the image. Then go to Path and click on Trace Bitmap. A window will pop up. Click on Update to see the image in the preview box. Then use the brightness cutoff threshold to adjust it if needed. I would recommend between 3 and 5 1/2. Click ok and close or move the box out of the way as it will not do so automatically. Click on the images, and move the new one out of the way. It will be a black and white image. You can delete the original. Choose the nodes tool which is below the black arrow on the left hand side. This will allow you to get rid of all of the information you do not want to cut. For example, if there was writing below a picture that you did not want to cut out. Then go to File and Save as. Save your file and be sure to delete the jpeg file ending. Make sure it is being saved as an inkscape svg. Now you will be able to import this into Sure Cuts a Lot or into Make the Cut.


If you are using Make the Cut and are not using Inkscape to convert the jpeg into an svg file, you will want to open the jpeg file. You do this by going to File, Import and then Trace from Raster/TWAIN. (You can convert from jpeg to svg in Make the Cut but you cannot do this in Sure Cuts a Lot.) A dialogue box will open that will allow you to search for your jpeg file. Choose it and click Open.This is what the file looked like originally after Make the Cut made it into an svg file that it could work with. But we had decided we wanted to do a double layer image with red and white vinyl so we needed to work with this a little bit. In order to get the two layers separate, we went to Edit, Shape Magic and then Layer. It automatically split the two layers. The one above is the background image that we wanted in white.This is the top layer that we were going to do in red. As you can see, the program has a Cricut mat as the background so you can see what the size of your image will be. You can also view it in other colors if it is easier for your eyes.This image was going to be a little less than 3 1/2 inches by just less than 8 inches. So we cut the vinyl about 4" wide by 12" since that is how wide the vinyl roll is already. By the way, I used a speed of 3, pressure of 3 and blade depth of 4 on this.
After the image was cut out, I took off the unwanted vinyl. I usually use somewhat of a diagonal direction to remove the vinyl. I think this helps to get it off easier.
Then I cut a piece of transfer tape about 4" by 8" and carefully placed it on top of the vinyl I cut and removed the background from. I pressed firmly to ensure it was adhering to the vinyl in every spot.Then I carefully removed the transfer tape from the original paper backing of the vinyl.The clear transfer tape allowed me to be able to see to line up the vinyl onto the laptop. I made sure to place the vinyl so that the picture would appear right side up when it was opened. Then I repeated these steps for the other layer of the image to be cut in red. Then I carefully lined up the red layer on top of the white layer and pressed it on. It might be helpful to use a credit card or other flat object to place this on and remove any bubbles. My Braves fan was a happy man!

**If you haven't purchased one of the software programs, I highly recommend that you do. They will save you TONS of money in the long run. You can purchase Make the Cut by clicking on the Make the Cut box on the right hand side of my blog.

Linked up at:
Girl Creative, Skip to My Lou, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Cottage Instincts

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Cricut Tutorial Part 2 {Vinyl}

I guess I could actually name this post buying vinyl. But oh well, it's part of the Cricut series. If you need to catch up with us. You can read Part 1 here.

So now you have your Cricut firmware updated and the drivers are found on your computer for your Cricut so they can "talk" to each other. You have one of the programs too, either Sure Cuts a Lot or Make the Cut. Once all of that is set up and ready, you are ready to create!

You can use paper, fabric, vellum, etc to cut out things with your Cricut and your software. But if you are wanting to get in on the vinyl craze, here are a few things you should know. (I don't claim to be an expert by any means so if you have any tips or info you would like to share, please leave a comment!!) You can buy vinyl at Hobby Lobby, Michael's or other craft stores but you are going to pay more for it. They usually sell it in sheets. I don't know if I have ever seen it in rolls there. But if that is just easier for you, that is a good place to start. If you are a frugal girl like me, then you are going to search out the cheapest place! I found a lot of places online that sell vinyl. I bought mine from Ebay because I found a place I could get free shipping which lowers the cost substantially. I believe I got 10 rolls that were 12 inches wide and 10 feet long. I was able to choose from about 26 different colors, which was plenty of choices for me! It was around $33.50 so each roll was about $3.35. Not too shabby. Plus I went in on it with my Mom so it was an even better deal. I know there are tons of places out there to buy vinyl from so I would just suggest searching in Ebay or googling "vinyl rolls." Maybe there is someone near you that would be willing to split vinyl too that way you get more color choices for less cost.

There are different thicknesses of vinyl too. The kind I have has been great and this is the description for it:

"3.0 mil polished flexible calendered vinyl with 200-5000, permanent acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive laminated to a 78# clay coated liner. Commonly used on computer programmable sign cutting machines."

Just as a comparison, the Cricut website has 2 vinyl sheets that are only 12 inches by 24 inches for $9. So buying it by the roll is WAY cheaper. Their vinyl is also the 3 mil vinyl.

Once you purchase the vinyl, you may also want to buy transfer tape. You can use vinyl without this, but if you are doing sayings or word strips, you will have to place each individual letter one by one onto the surface you are putting the vinyl on. I didn't want to have to do this, and the perfectionist part of me definitely did not like this idea! So I opted to get transfer tape. The nice thing is that it is super easy to use and can actually be reused until it just isn't that sticky anymore. It kind of reminds me of clear contact paper. You can actually buy the transfer tape in clear or white but clear allows you to see exactly where you are placing it so I liked that better. It came in rolls just like the vinyl did. We bought 35 feet of Clear Low Tack Reusable Transfer Tape for about $32. It was 12 inches wide. This was TOTALLY worth it. It made transferring the vinyl a breeze!

Here is basically how you use both of these. (I do have a tutorial with pictures coming in the next week or so too.) First, cut out your shape or words with your Cricut. I recommend using a sharp blade. If the shape is very intricate or a fairly skinny font, it will be harder to get out if your blade isn't really sharp. You do not need the deep cutting blade though, just the regular one. You should also cut at a 3 or a 4 blade depth. The speed can be set at 3 and the pressure at 3. There is the option to cut multiple cuts, meaning it will go over the same spot more than once. Sometimes this is helpful too.

Now that your objects are cut out, remove the part of the vinyl that is not wanted. This is basically the outside around the shapes or words that you DO want. Keep the vinyl that you are wanting to use on the original backing it came on. Then cut a piece of transfer tape big enough to cover the vinyl area you are using. Then remove the paper backing on the transfer tape and carefully place the sticky side of the transfer tape on top of the vinyl. Press firmly down on the whole area. Then you will be able to remove the vinyl paper backing. Your shapes or words will now be backwards. This will allow you to place the vinyl down onto the surface you are wanting. You will be able to see through the clear transfer tape and line up the vinyl exactly where you want it. You can also write on the transfer tape if you want to put marks or something to line it up exactly center. Now, press firmly over the whole area with a credit card or other flat object and carefully peel off the transfer tape. I have found it sometimes works best to peel the tape off at a diagonal angle to your object rather than just straight at it from the side. Now your vinyl will be where you want it to be in one step.

Like I said, I do have a tutorial coming up with pictures on how to do this. I can also post a tutorial on how to reuse your Cricut mats. It will make them sticky again saving you money!! Hope that information helped you know how to use vinyl with your Cricuts. Please let me know if you have anymore questions.

**If you haven't purchased one of the software programs, I highly recommend that you do. They will save you TONS of money in the long run. You can purchase Make the Cut by clicking on the Make the Cut box on the right hand side of my blog. Save 15% right now too!!

Linked up at:
The Girl Creative, Skip to My Lou, Sumo's Sweet Stuff,
Fingerprints on the Fridge,

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Make the Cut!

Just so you know, I have a few more posts in the next week or two that will show you more about how to cut vinyl with your Cricut as well as using Make the Cut. Since I have had a TON of you asking me about this program....

Here are the details for Make the Cut:

• WYSIWYG Interface [image]
• Works with the Cricut™ Expression™, Create™ and Personal™
• Automated Cricut™ Driver Installation [image]
• Preview/Use Any SVG [image]
• Integrated SVG Gallery (Currently over 1000 free projects!)
• Work on Multiple Projects at a Time
• Choose From 3 Standard Mat Sizes [image]
• Use Any Installed Font or Import TTF Files [image]
• Convert Raster Images to SVG Format [example]
• Easily Create Lattices [image]
• Break/Split/Layer Shapes and Edit Them [image]
• Weld/Join Shapes Together [image]
• Create custom background shadows from any shape [image]
• Export Shapes to SVG Format or Personal Library
• Cut, Copy and Paste Shapes Between Projects
• And Much, Much More!

You can purchase this program by clicking on the Make the Cut button that is in the right hand side of my blog. This will take you to the official purchasing website for them. This program is SO awesome! It will allow you to use ANY font on your computer and convert any jpeg into an svg file to cut with your Cricut. It actually makes me giddy to use! Happy Cricut-ing!!

PLUS, they have a coupon code good from March 11th through midnight of March 17th where you can get an extra 15% off!! Just enter MTC311 on the checkout page.

***Also, don't forget to join in our Spring has Sprung party this Friday by linking up your fun spring posts. For more information, check it out here. There will be a GIVEAWAY!!

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Cricut Tutorial Part 1

So there is a LOT to cover when it comes to cutting vinyl with your Cricut. I was having a hard time deciding exactly where to start. First, you need a machine to cut the vinyl with, any of the Cricut machines will work, even the personal cutter. You may have limitations with the size of vinyl you can cut based on which machine you have but most of the time even the smallest one will do the job of cutting simple things like letters.
If you want to be able to cut shapes or letters, besides what is on your Cricut cartridges, you also need to have one of the programs to do that. The two I know of are Sure Cuts a Lot and Make the Cut. I have played around a tiny bit with Sure Cuts a Lot, which seems to be a pretty good program. I have also played around alot with Make the Cut. I really like Make the Cut. It seems just a little easier to use. You can purchase either of these online by searching for the programs or ebay or another similar site. The coolest thing about these programs is that you can use ANY true type font you have on your computer and cut it out. So you wouldn't need to have a ton of Cricut cartridges. You could just use all of the fonts you already have! There are also a TON of freebie font sites that you can download other fonts from too. A few of my favorites are Da Font, ScrapVillage, Two Peas, and Kevin and Amanda. These sites alone will probably give you more fonts than you could EVER use!! It is easy to download fonts on your computer. I could give you a big step by step tutorial on how to do that, but over at Kevin and Amanda, they have an AwEsOmE one already. So I will just leave it up to the experts to teach you that.

If you are having a hard time deciding between the two programs, it is probably because they are both great. I don't think you could go wrong with either one. I do know that with Sure Cuts a Lot, in order to get jpeg images into a svg file (which is the type of file you need for your program/Cricut to cut) you will also need to download a free program online called Inkscape. Make the Cut has a built in feature that allows the program to automatically convert the jpeg image into a workable svg file type. All of that probably sounds like mumbo jumbo, so basically just know that if you want to use any jpeg file and cut that shape, you might need to download Inkscape too. It is an easy program to mess around with. I had never seen anything on it and was able to figure it out pretty quickly. But here is a very easy to follow tutorial I just found online if you need a little help on how to use it.

Don't forget that there are a ton of You Tube videos on how to use the software as well as forums where people have posted questions or comments on how to use the software. There are also a TON of blogs that people have shown how to use both programs. I think it is a trial and error type of thing where you just need to get your hands on it and mess around til you can figure it all out.

Now, if you have bought one of the programs mentioned above for the Cricut and you want to hook your Cricut up to the computer, you are going to need to do a couple of things. First, you need to update the firmware on your Cricut. You can do this by downloading a free trial version of Cricut design studio. It will help you download the newest firmware for the type of Cricut you have. If you have further questions on how to do this, there are You Tube videos out there for this as well. It is really pretty simple though.

Once you have the Cricut firmware updated, you now need to use a USB cable to hook up your Cricut to your computer. The first time you do this, your computer will probably try to download drivers for the Cricut. This is just computer speak for the way the Cricut communicates with the computer. If you are having trouble with this, don't despair. Mine didn't find them on its own either. I used this website to help me download them manually. She also has a few instructions on how to do the firmware too if you still need more help with that. And she has a page where she compares Sure Cuts a Lot and Make the Cut although, it looks a little outdated because I know that Make the Cut has already come out with quite a few more features than what she shows.

Once you have the software ready to go on your computer, the firmware of the Cricut updated, and the drivers to your Cricut on your computer, you are ready to start creating!! In the next Cricut Vinyl tutorial, I will tell you more about where to buy vinyl and transfer tape as well as show you how it works. If you have any more questions you would like answered relating to the software or other questions you would like to see in future tutorials, please leave me a comment or email me. I hope this helps!!

***Also, don't forget to join in our Spring has Sprung party this Friday by linking up your fun spring posts. For more information, check it out here.

Linked up at:
Lucky Star Lane, Today's Creative Blog, Fireflies & Jellybeans

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Vinyl Requests

Since I have had quite a few requests for more info on vinyl and your cricut, I will put together a tutorial on how to do it. Does anyone have any specific questions they know they need answered? If not, I will just try to be as detailed as possible.

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Cutting Vinyl

So I am the proud new owner of a Cricut. I have been wanting one forever and was just about to give in and get one this year. But I held my ground and now I am kind of glad I did. My Mom upgraded to the Expressions Cricut and I was able to inherit her other cricut. WAHOO! Score! My first order of business was to cut some vinyl. It was perfect that my mom just happened to need help with a vinyl project when she visited. She hauled about 40 tiles with her to my house...poor guys handling her suitcases!! But it turned out to be a great project for both of us. Here is a preview:They have cute ruby red slippers to glue onto them at the top. Can you tell it's a Wizard of Oz theme? Fitting seeing as how I live in the midwest!This was a great project to start out with vinyl. It was a lot of prep work of searching for tutorials online to figure out the easiest way to use the vinyl and the cricut. One thing I found that made the whole thing SO much easier, was to use transfer tape. We got transfer tape in clear. I think it comes in clear or white. But the clear made it so nice to be able to line it up and be able to see exactly what it looked like. The transfer tape is great because it can be reused a few times until it loses its stickiness. We used Make the Cut software to design the words with different fonts I already had or ones we found off the internet...LOVE free fonts!! Now I have some extra rolls of vinyl to get some projects going! I have one more to post with a tutorial in the next day or so. Maybe everyone already knows how to do vinyl with the cricut but if not, let me know. I can give even more details if they are needed!

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