|
Welp. You guessed it: another favorite project and tutorial! I love finding ways to use all the photos I take — I am constantly emptying my iPhone to make room for more photos, but I hate not using them for something fun!
After picking up some fake leather and clear vinyl at the local craft store, I thought this project would be super fun and usable! I think these would make great gifts for Father’s Day or Mother’s Day — or for grandparents! I did a few varieties of coasters – I just wanted to spark your creativity to go crazy with this project! Every shape and text used is right from the built-in designs on the ScanNCut machine.
A few additional ideas I had to sandwich between the vinyl…. kids’ doodles and drawings, ticket stubs and maps from vacations, old notes, and just other memory items you want to keep!
Let’s jump right into it!
SUPPLIES
- Brother ScanNCut Machine
- memory items — photos, maps, ticket stubs, drawings, etc
- clear vinyl for coaster front
- felt or fake leather/vinyl for coaster back
- sewing machine and supplies
- *a piece of scotch tape to put on the bottom of your sewing machine foot — I have found it keep the vinyl from sticking to the sewing machine foot*
We’ll walk through the coasters I made using an old Pittsburgh map print, and then I’ll show you my modifications as well!
1|| Lay out your map or images if they need to be cut to coaster size.
2|| Background scan your image — map in this case — and determine where to cut for the coasters. I wanted this set of six to form the map once again when placed in the correct order, so I created a grid of squares to be cut.
3|| After determining your coaster size, cut the same size shape from your clear vinyl for the coaster tops.
For the thicker clear vinyl (about .5mm thick or less) I used the following settings:
speed: 1
pressure: 3
blade: 6
For the thicker vinyl I used on the back, I increased my blade setting to about an 8.
4|| Continue with the felt or fake leather for the coaster backs.
5|| Create your “coaster sandwich.” I love using my quilting clips for this step because it keeps all the layers stacked beautifully together!
6|| Carefully sew around the perimeter of your coasters. *Place scotch tape on the bottom of your sewing foot to keep the vinyl from sticking!*
7|| Repeat for remaining coasters!
And now for a few variations!
Use instagram photos to create photo coasters! I had instagram photos printed at Target as 5″x5″ prints.
Using my background scan on the ScanNCut machine, I was able to see precisely where I needed to cut my shapes.
Using a London Tube map, I created triangular coasters with white and yellow vinyl on the back!
Using yellow vinyl as my middle layer, I had a little fun cutting out itty-bitty letters on my ScanNCut. (the letters are just shy of .5″ tall)
Just have fun!
The options are simply endless with this project! I’d love to see what you come up with!
xo
I was provided a Brother ScanNCut machine for this sponsored post. All ideas and opinion are my own.
|
Remember when we found out this growing baby-bump was a boy? Shock. Complete. Shock.
Yes….I’m still shocked! So excited and so shocked.
It was so fun when I asked Jacquie if she’d make the cake for us — especially when she decided to find out at 20 weeks…but not at the ultrasound like they typically have done in the past! We decided a baby-reveal-cake-swap would happen, obviously.
Enter nervous sweats.
Um y’all? In real life, Jacquie is an amazing cake decorator — in a long list of crazy amazing talents she possesses! — like legit cake baker and maker and designer. Legit.
Me? I’ve designed, baked and made about a million cakes….in my head. You know, while I watch the Food Network Cake Challenges and things.
Obviously.
So to say I was nervous about making her reveal cake is a bit of an understatement.
Just like I had done, Jacquie had their ultrasound technician put the baby’s sex on a piece of paper inside an envelope. She dropped it off at my place — and I had until about 6:30 that evening to bake, make and deliver this cake to her home! Her sister was heading back home, so they wanted her to be there as well!
The cake actually worked and wasn’t half bad, so I thought I’d share what I did with y’all! About mid morning, I decided a piñata cake with tons of sprinkles would be most fun — especially since she had a 4 year old and 2 year old who were anxiously awaiting cutting into this cake to find out if she was getting a little brother or sister!
I began by making 4 cake rounds — I used 8″ cake rounds and white cake. I utilized my favorite frosting color tip into the cake batter — using Trader Joe’s’ freeze dried berries as the food coloring! I had blueberries and raspberries ready to go — and when I read “it’s a Girl!” the blueberry bag went back into the pantry!
The berries are so easy to use! Empty the bag of fruit into a blender or food processor and blend into a fine powder. Mix with frosting or in this case cake batter!
The 2 cake rounds turned out a bit more purple than I’d hoped — I should have used strawberries! So then I used pink food coloring for the last 2 cake rounds!
I let the cakes cool and then flattened the tops using my handy cake-leveler. You know, the one I purchased for all of my cake decorating…. and used for the first time during this little project. I know. Ridiculous.
I layered them up with frosting in between. The first layer is a solid purple layer — no piñata pockets in it.
Before stacking the second layer, I used a round cookie cutter and made three holes as shown below.
Fill’m up with sprinkles! Disclaimer: I went through 3 large containers of pink sprinkles. Don’t skimp. :)
The next layer was a purple layer with 5 “piñata pockets.” That is a very technical term, folks.
The top layer was another bright pink layer with a large pocket in the center. Harlow loved helping me pour all the sprinkles — spwint-els — into the cake!
Next up was frosting this dang thing. After hours of staring at it and covering every pink crumb I could find I decided that they make frosting a cake look way easy on the Food Network.
Just sayin’.
During my frosting fun, I was trying to figure out what on earth to do to decorate this fun thing! Jacquie of course knocked it out of the park with the cake she made for us!
I decided to whip out my ScanNCut … of course! And make this fun little cake topper using some wooden discs, colored vinyl and wooden dowels….also known as chopsticks. Yup. True story.
Our favorite Thai restaurant here in Pittsburgh has the best chopsticks! They aren’t the ones that are attached at one end, they are just perfect. Yes, I just went on a tangent about chopsticks….someone help me.
If you’ve never used adhesive vinyl before — don’t be scared! I was laughing with my sister last week that I’ve gone a bit nutty with the label making — but I just can’t help it.
I created the circle designs using the built in patterns on my ScanNCut — I unified a circle and text together. The size was dictated by the wooden circles I picked up at the hobby store.
If you are using a cutting machine like the ScanNCut, you want to cut only through the vinyl, not the sheet the vinyl is sticking to. If you are cutting the vinyl by hand, you will most likely cut through that backing paper — it’s okay, it just might be a little more difficult to remove.
Next, you will use a transfer or contact paper. This paper is slightly tacky and sticks to the front, non-sticky side of your vinyl. Remove the vinyl paper backing, and you are left with the sticky part of the vinyl ready to use.
Line it up on your final piece — in my case, the wooden circles — and press in place.
Voila! Cake topper complete. ScanNCut to the rescue.
I wasn’t able to stick around to watch them cut into the cake — I even wore gloves when I delivered it, because I accidentally dyed my thumbnail pink, and I couldn’t get it completely off to save my life! Whoops!
Jacquie sent me a photo and told me that her four year old, Lilly, declared it was a piñata when all the sprinkles fell out. I hadn’t quite figured out what a cake like this would be called, so piñata it was!
Okay….so who’s next in line for a cake!? I mean, I’ve totally got this down. ;)
xo
|
This post is my second “Make or Buy” post — I wasn’t planning on two “make” posts in a row, but with all the traveling and roadtrips we’ve been taking lately, the eye makeup remover and this facial toner as always some of the first items packed!
After I had Harlow, I started looking into the benefits of Witch Hazel. I always thought the name was just a bit too weird — and it kept me from ever purchasing it or looking into its uses.
When it was recommended to me to help with postpartum healing, I decided it was time I looked into it’s properties and uses. I began using it as a facial toner right away. I loved how gentle it was — but also how it actually worked. (And it’s cheap!)
I mentioned it to my mom, and she had also been reading more about Tea Tree Oil and its benefits. She then found some recommended witch hazel – tea tree oil ratios, and we both began using this little mix as a daily facial toner.
45 mL Witch Hazel
2.5 mL Tea Tree Oil or 1/2 teaspoon
I love it. It’s simple to make. It’s cheap. I know what is in it. …and it works!
What have you been making lately? I will be finalizing the design for these bottle labels soon — and getting that to y’all to download, if you’d like!
xo
|
I’ve mentioned before that I’m not a huge fan of packing. Well, packing or unpacking.
Is anyone a fan of unpacking? I would pay someone to unpack from vacation before I would ever pay someone to clean my house. Is that weird? Oh well.
So packing. I try to make it fun. I make duffle bags, sew toiletry bags and buy cute containers (more on those soon!) and while I was packing for our weekend in New York, I decided my Ziploc Quart bag wasn’t cutting it. So what did I do?
Made a reusable one, of course. It’s simple and fun — and you can make one (or a few!) too! Let’s jump right into it —
SUPPLIES
- Vinyl — my favorite place to snag vinyl is the remnant bin at your local fabric/craft store! You want a vinyl that holds its own shape and isn’t too thin.
- Zipper — I would use one 9″ or longer
- Brother ScanNCut Machine
- Pattern: FCM file; SVG file; PDF file
Sewing machine and notions
1|| The first thing you want to do is cut out 2 pieces from the pattern. If you print out the PDF, be sure to set your scale at 100%, if you want it to be quart sized.
I also made a little label I sewed to one piece. Write out the label and sandwich it between a piece of vinyl and one pattern piece. Sew in place.
2|| The first step is add the zipper. You will follow the same basic steps of construction that you did for the Even Better Box Bag!
Place the zipper along the top edge of one of your vinyl pieces – right sides together. Stitch in place. Fold back and top stitch in place. Repeat for other side.
*Note, vinyl tends to not glide smoothly on your machine, especially in humid/hot conditions. You can place a scrap piece of fabric below the vinyl to help it glide more smoothly if you are having difficulty with the vinyl sticking!*
3|| Next, we will sew the bottom of the bag. With right sides together, sew along the bottom edge with a 1/4″ seam allowance. I chose to then finger-press the seam to the side and top stitch, so my bag would sit nice and flat.
4|| Next, sew up both sides of the bag. If you used a too-long zipper, just be sure the zipper pull is within those side seams!
5|| Match the bottom openings and sew together — just like we did for the Better Box Bag. Remember, your bag should still be inside out! :)
After you’ve sewn these seams, trim your threads and turn right side out. Vinyl sticks and it might be a little difficult to turn, but slow and steady wins the race.
6|| That’s it! Go fill it up with all of those overpriced travel items we are forced to buy. I’ve decided toothpaste is the worst…there really isn’t any way to avoid buying those silly things of toothpaste if you aren’t checking a bag! Grr. Well, thankfully this little bag makes it a little more fun to pack!
Be sure to tag me if you share what you’ve created on Instagram or elsewhere! I love seeing what y’all are doing! And as always, let me know if you have questions or problems!
xo
PS: I’ve been pinning some of my favorite products and stylish moms over on this Pinterest board!
|
Make? or Buy?
First up on the list is eye makeup remover. When I originally was making a list of items I’ve chosen to buy, since making them wasn’t successful, eye makeup remover was on my “buy” list! But good thing I am beyond behind when it comes to getting the ideas in my head onto the blog in a timely manner, I came up with a recipe that works.
Really works.
Works better than the purchased stuff works.
And I stand behind that promise!
Prior to this little recipe, I found that all of my homemade versions did one or a few of the following things:
- Smeared my eye makeup everywhere — not really removing it, just moving it around a bit…into my pores a bit. Yeah, not a fan.
- Left my eyesight blurry for a bit. Yeah, super weird, super bothersome, not for me.
- Stung. ouch.
So really, I added eye makeup remover to my list as one to share how my success at my homemade recipes was not a success at all, and how now I fork over , , , or …or ? Yikes.
Now have I tried every eye makeup remover out there? No. And while I’m a little curious about how some of them work, I’m not curious enough to spend more money trying them all because I cannot believe how well this homemade formula works.
Three ingredients are needed:
- water
- fractionated coconut oil*
*fractionated coconut oil stays a liquid at room temperature and colder
Fill up a small container (4oz size in the photo) with water.
Add one teaspoon fractionated coconut oil.
Add 1-3 drops of baby shampoo.
….that’s it.
The shampoo helps unify the oil and the water, but I always give it a little shake prior to use. The thing that amazes me most about this remover is that it removes everything without making me look like I have two black eyes first. It really removes even heavy eye make up without blurring your vision or smearing it everywhere.
I do have one caveat: I haven’t tried it with waterproof mascara! I never wear waterproof mascara, but I will purposefully just to try this solution! I will update when I do!
UPDATE: I put on waterproof mascara this morning just so I could test it. As is, I had to work pretty hard to get the waterproof mascara off, but by up-ing the fractionated coconut oil from 2-5 teaspoons, it came off great!
Price breakdown using items shown:
- 4 oz of water: $0.01 (maybe less?)
- 1-3 drops of baby shampoo: $0.01 (and I calculated this using the ….so definitely not even a penny for cheaper shampoos)
- 1 teaspoon of fractionated coconut oil: $0.19 (calculated using this Fractionated Coconut Oil)
Grand total…. 4 oz for a whopping 21 cents. Yup. I’ll keep making and using this stuff!
I’d love to hear how you like it! What products are on your make list? your buy list?
Have a great weekend! (psst! don’t forget about the Wrenn Jewelry giveaway!)
xo
|
This past weekend, we were able to spend time celebrating new life with some dear friends of mine. Two college friend, Johanna and Kaitlin married brothers, and now they are both expecting late summer/early fall! We were so happy when the date worked for us to take a little roadtrip to Chicago, so we could be there!
Kelley and Chad hosted the shower at their new house, and they were incredible hosts. Their house is gorgeous, and I want their front yard. Oh, and their kitchen….and the slimming mirror over the staircase. ;o)
She brought home some toys for Harlow from her office, so Harlow of course went straight for the dinosaurs!
This little love-bug stole the show.
I think baby boy’s kicks lulled baby G right to sleep. My arms were not complaining — he is seriously so cute! Thank you for letting me steal him away from your arms so much, Callie! And for letting Harlow hold him — she’s still talking about it.
Harlow was relatively well-behaved for completely skipping her nap — she even rested a bit upstairs, after proclaiming how byoooful everything was. Harlow girl loves fancy pillows! Ha
I put her to work, of course.
Baby girl due October // Baby boy due September // Baby ..??.. due August!
I of course had way too much fun making gifts for their little blessings. I love making these burp rags, because they give me a chance to just experiment! Kaitlin and her husband Ben are going for the 40-week surprise, so I stuck to elephants, mint and grey!
Johanna and her husband Grant went for the 20-week surprise, and are incorporating grey, pinks and coral — so of course I needed to run with those colors!
I used a few different techniques to quilt these burp rags…
Walking foot stripes using painter’s tape as my guide. (Video tutorial available here.)
Some free motion quilting — I am such an amateur, y’all. I free handed these hearts with my favorite fabric pens, and then loosely followed my markings as a guide. More on free-motion quilting here!
I used my walking foot to outline a cute little turtle on one burp rag and an elephant on another! The elephant might be my most favorite ever….
If I was smoother with my free-motion foot, I would have used that, but I opted to simply work slowly with my walking foot — and I was really happy with the results!
Of course I needed to “wrap” them in a paint can! I just love these things.
And a little bit of adhesive vinyl completes them! I designed a cut file with one of my favorite verses — Psam 139:14 — and used my ScanNCut to cut it out of vinyl.
I added a few of my favorite baby-must-haves as well. These are definitely becoming my go-to gift to create for showers! 3 burp rags fit beautifully around the perimeter of the paint can, and it leaves the perfect space to stuff with a few baby essentials!
I’m excited for names to be finalized, so I can start some customized goodies for these sweet blessings!
And because I love y’all, here are the downloadable files for my “fearfully and wonderfully made” design!
UPDATE: Because GOODNESS SAKES PREGNANCY BRAIN!! I see the typo….well, I didn’t see the typo…no one saw the typo! But the typo has been found.
And the files have been updated! SORRY! #goodnessgoodnessgoodness
xo
In case you’re wondering how I go from design to cutting the vinyl to adhering to the paint can!
1 // Download cut file and cut adhesive vinyl after testing settings. Be sure to only cut through the vinyl, keeping the paper backing intact.
2 // Remove the negative pieces — or the vinyl you won’t be using.
3 // Using contact or transfer paper, attach the sticky side of the transfer paper to the right side of your vinyl design.
4 // Remove paper backing from your vinyl design, and arrange design with contact/transfer paper to your final object.
5 // Burnish the vinyl onto the surface and gently peel away contact paper, being sure every area of the design is sticking well.
6 // Voila! You did it!
