Easy Baby Stat Gifts

Cubbies seem to be all the rage lately. They are adorable and it is a nice way for parents to have a personalized gift with their brand new baby's birth statistics.

This post will show an easy and fun alternative without needing an expensive embroidery machine, or needing to find those costly cubbie blanks.

The 18 inch American girl doll shirts are ideal for this. Not only do they fit the American Girl dolls, but they fit bears and other stuffed animals you can get from Build A Bear and other plush items you can find at your local stores.

I used a black and white doll shirt as I wanted to do examples of both a boy and a girl shirt. The girl shirt I made with light pink and white vinyl but unfortunately the differences in color didn't show well in the photos. I used a blue and black vinyl for the boy shirt.

 

I pressed each color individually.

 

I then pressed the second color and pressed both layers for the total press time.

 

 

 

 

Here are close ups of each of the finished shirts on a plush animal.

 



 

 

I hope this gives some inspiration on a new item to offer in your business or a wonderful gift to give.



 

 

 

School Superpower Keychain



Another school year is about to come to an end. With the rush and excitement of summer vacation arriving, it is a good to remember a nice way to thank those teachers that have educated your child over the past year.

I love the apple acrylic keychain blanks from Craft Chameleon. I really like the bright color of the red and love the glitter red keychains. However, the school my son attends has purple and gold for their school colors, which just does not look good with red. So I used a clear blank for mine.

I cut the text and the mascot out in purple vinyl and the superhero emblem and first letter of the school name in a gold yellow vinyl.  I weeded both designs while they were still on the vinyl carrier sheet.



I layered the two designs together still on the vinyl carrier sheet. I find this helps to avoid bubbles and makes the application process a little easier.

I peeled one side of the brown paper off the acrylic blank.



I added the triangle bail and heavy duty split key ring to finish off the keychain. I think this is a simple and unique item that teachers will appreciate.

The finished item shows a 3 inch white acrylic circle. The design works well on various acrylic shapes. However, the different acrylic was used for photographic purposes only.

I hope this helps to inspire you to create a fun end of year teacher appreciation gift!

Coasting into Mother's Day No Silhouette Needed!

I am so excited to be doing my first blog post here. With Mother's Day being about 6 weeks away, I thought it would be fun to make some posts for Mother's Day gifts you can make yourself.

I love the blank acrylic blank coaster sets from Craft Chameleon. I especially love that they come in a set of 4 blank coasters and include the feet. This makes it so easy to customize and finish. The coasters themselves are nice and thick so they hold up to lots of use.

I made the design in Silhouette and printed them on my inkjet printer. I couldn't find my cardstock so I used regular copier paper. After letting the ink dry, I sprayed acrylic sealer over the images.

  Once the sealer had dried, I cut out the designs to make it easier to apply to the coasters.

I removed the protective paper coating from both sides of the coasters. 





 Using a foam brush, I applied the modge podge to one side of the blank coaster, which would then become the bottom side of the coaster. Then I applied the cut out design onto the mod podge, right side up.



 After letting the mod podge dry for a couple of hours, I applied 2 more coats of mod podge to the backside of the design to help seal it and secure it on the coaster. I applied the coaster feet right after I had applied the final coat of mod podge.



 Here are 2 finished coasters. I did experience some of the ink bleeding from the modge podge even though I used a sealer. I would recommend using scrap book paper or card stock if you are printing your own images. I think the copier paper is just too thin to hold all the ink.

I hope this helps to inspire you for some fun and different ways to use these coasters.

We'rrreeee BACK!

Sorry for the long break! We took off for Atlanta and have returned. Here we are before the doors opened on the first day. From left to right- Jodi, Shelley, Peggy, Jamie, Chaney, Candi, Sarah.

Now that we are back and I have this photo, I want to introduce our new Blog Editor, Sarah (now you can put a face with a name).

Let's welcome her and I am excited to see all the great things she will bring with her!

How to Remove Paper Covering on Acrylic Blanks - video

In less than 2 1/2 minutes see how to remove the paper covering from your acrylic blanks. Easy Peasy!

Professional Tip - Using a Diamond Tipped Reamer

In less than 2 minutes you can learn how to make quick easy and professional holes in your vinyl on acrylic blanks.

Order yours today!

Faux Sea Glass Pendant

Who doesn't love the sheer bliss of of a pretty piece of sea glass? Well now you can make your own light weight alternative.

Here is what you will need:

• Transparent colored disc (blue transparent shown here)
• Emery Board or Sandpaper
• Face mask (optional)
• Necklace
• Oval side cut jump rings
• Charm 
• Tassel (turquoise shown here)

Now the for the fun part! Take your sandpaper or emery board and sand the disc! Be sure to sand in a circular motion for a more realistic appearance.

Don't forget the edges!

Wipe down  the disc and complete your pendant.

6 colors to choose from.

$3.95 Bunny Bags Are Here Just In Time for Easter!

We ship quickly so get your orders in now!

  Click here to grab your bags! 

  Click here to request to join our facebook group where the bunny bag cut files are kept.

High Style | Low Cost Easter Baskets - Part 3 Final

You don't have to break the bank to get custom looking Easter Baskets.
PART 3 - Final
USE WHAT YOU HAVE EASTER BASKET

Don't rush out and purchase something, maybe the old tin,
footed glass bowl, baseball mitt or something
in your basement or attic will be perfect! 

Look around your home and shop your house!

Here is what we did:
* Found an old tin in the utility room at our house.
* Filled with green grass from Dollar Store floral area.
* Added our blingy eggs for contrast.
* Personalized the white glitter acrylic chick and tied it on the handle with ribbon.

    TIP: Use a long piece of ribbon to get your bow just right and clip off the extra.

Here are other ideas on containers we made into Easter baskets and used the personalized acrylics to give them some pizzazz and a custom look.

All acrylic shapes and knit hats are available here.

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