DIY Wedding Party Gifts the Groomsmen and Bridesmaids will Love - A How to Make Cufflinks, Earrings and Ring Dish Tutorial

Hello, Alyssa Cardin here today for Craft Chameleon Blog! Today we are going to walk through making personalized pearl back earrings, cufflinks, and ring dishes. 

I love making these because there are so many options, they are very easy to make, PLUS they look amazing when done. The hardest part is deciding on a design! My customers love them, most buy them for Bridesmaid/Groomsmen gifts. 

SuppliesItems listed with an * are clickable links to the products* Cuff Link Blanks with insert
* Bezel Earings Blanks wit insert
* Pearl Backs
* Ring dishes
* Vinyl
Transfer tape

E6000 or other similar glue
Optional Resin or Sealant
SVG or other digital design

Once you have decided on a design, open the file that Craft Chameleon sent out with the template. The link to these files can be found in your shipping notification.

Copy the circle earring template and remove the numbers from the middle. We want to make sure the design will fit in the circle. Zoom the screen instead of changing the size of the circle if it is hard to see. 

Minimize your design so it fits in the circle, with a little room left around the design. Once it is verified the design will fit in the circle, cut and weed the design. 

Once it is verified the design will fit in the circle, cut and weed the design. 

Use Transfer tape to pick up the design, but before applying the vinyl design to the blank acrylic insert, be sure to remove the plastic covering over the acrylic.

As shown, it helps to put the acrylic on the cutting mat to hold the acrylic in place when applying the vinyl design.

Press down on the transfer paper. Now the acrylic can be applied to the bezel earring back or the acrylic can be sealed. Sealing is optional.

The most popular methods of sealing the acrylic are Mod Podge Dimensional or 2 part Resin. The Mod Podge is more cost effective, easier to use and dries faster. However, The Mod Podge can be dented if someone tries hard enough. The resin can't.

Since earrings and cufflinks rub up against hair and clothing, I choose to seal the vinyl on the acrylics. Apply to sealant according to package instructions. If using Mod Podge, carefully squeeze the bottle and cover the acrylic, use a toothpick to ensure full coverage.

The acrylic will look cloudy at first but will clear up as it dries. If there are air bubbles, use a toothpick to remove from mod podge or breathe on the resin (you will look ridiculous but it works 😁). Let the sealant dry.

Once the Acrylic is dry, or if no sealant is used it is time to assemble the acrylic insert to the bezel backing. The method is the same for earrings and cufflinks, making matching sets a breeze!

Craft Chameleon recommends E6000 and it is my 'go to' adhesive, but there are other options out there just read the labels. Apply the glue to the inside of the earring or cufflink bezel and apply a little to the back of the acrylic insert. Wait about 30 seconds and then place the acrylic inside the bezel backing. 

Apply pressure for a minute and then let it cure for 24 hours or per the adhesive manufacturers instructions.  If you are making cufflinks, you are done.

The pearl earring backing is applied in the same manner as a regular earring back. Once the adhesive has set, push the backing on and your earring is complete. 

When my customers purchase the pearl backing I include the regular earring backs (Craft Chameleon includes them with the earrings) as well as the pearl backing. 

Now let's whip up the corrdinating ring dish!

To make the ring dish, select your design and fit it into about a 1.5 inch x 1.5 inch box in your design software.

Cut and weed the vinyl, and transfer to transfer tape. Cut the transfer tape down so it will fit in the middle of the ring dish.

Center the design and apply the vinyl by applying pressure and rubbing the transfer tape. Remove the transfer tape and you have completed the matching ring dish in no time at all.

Alyssa, thank you so very much for another fantastic blog post!

Please consider sharing this blog post on your favorite social media. Below is an image sized for Pinterest for safe keeping in your files there!

DIY Unicorn Phone Case

Personalized phone case

This week please welcome our guest blogger, Angie Scrivner. Angie uses a larger size vinyl cutter with Sure Cut's A Lot program. She can cut vinyl for large signs as well as small pieces for phone cases as we see here.

Hello, I’m  Angie, I have been married to my husband for almost 33 years, have 2 grown children and our first grandchild in December 2017.  I am the owner of a small business, Houndstooth Hunny plus I drive a school bus.

I love creating things for people and seeing my work put a smile on someones face. Now let's get started!

Supplies 
Items with * have a link to the products

*Glitter  translucent vinyl in Yellow, light blue, silver, and purple. Plain pink vinyl in bubblegum (I used Oracal 651) Transfer tape.

* Black iphone 6 cover

* Similar  Cut file for the unicorn face with CC Acrylic for $.90

 Vinyl Cutting Machine

* Vinyl weeding tool

 Vinyl application tool 

I start off by opening the file that I received with my iphone cover. Once I have this open I open the unicorn file that I purchased* and resize it to fit the phone cover. 

This is Craft Chameleon unicorn cut file that comes free with the purchase of their acrylic unicorn blank. It wasn't available at the time this post was written.

After I get everything the correct size, I break it all apart and decide what I want to cut first and cut it on my vinyl cutter.

I wipe my phone cover with a paper towel and a spray of alcohol, to be sure the cover is clean and has no oils from my hands or anything is on it. Upon cutting each item I place them all on a mat on the desk until I have everything cut out.

Once everything is cut out, I weed each piece of cut vinyl and place all side by side so I don’t lose anything while I’m working.

I begin by placing the horn and ears on the cover. I try to center it, leaving room for a name underneath. The horn and ears are your starting point, once you have applied these and smoothed them and removed the transfer tape, you will now start applying the flowers.

Apply the two outside flowers first and the middle one last, this helps everything fit together. When flowers are done, apply the inside of ears one side at a time.  

Continue applying your vinyl parts until you have your unicorn done. At this time you will apply the name.  I also try to center this.

Make sure that you have used your application tool and smoother all of your vinyl and that you have removed all transfer tape. This makes a really cute gift for the unicorn lover in your life!