Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Super Sparkly Personalized Water Jug


So, I just might have an addiction to this floral diamond wrap from The Dollar Tree. It's just so darn shiny! All kidding aside, here's another quick project for any of you out there looking to spoil someone with (plastic) jewels.  Of course, these were made for my little dance-teamers but they'd be really cute for lots of uses...like sorority big/little gifts, your favorite trainer at the gym, or a kid going off to camp!


What you'll need:

  • Diamond Wrap (9ft/$1 at Dollar Tree)
  • Large Water Jug (Bought mine from the grocery store.)
  • E6000 Glue (Please use with the window open, it stinks!)
  • Vinyl Lettering (Made mine on the Cricut, but you could purchase ready made letters too.)
Step One: Lay Out Design
The design kind of depends on where the ridges are positioned on your particular jug, but I suggest keeping it simple.  It will make the gluing step much more successful.  I was lucky enough to find the diamond wrap in my daughters' school colors, so that made it pretty easy to nail down how I wanted it to look. After you've decided on a design, pre-cut your strips of wrap to the desired length (you may want to use a bit of tape at this stage if it's shifting around a bit). Don't forget you can cut the strips lengthwise, as well, if you want narrower rows of gems.

Step Two: Glue Diamond Wrap
Using a glue recommended for use on plastics, carefully glue wrap to bottle in the desired design.  Be careful not to use too much glue, as it will push up through the wrap's webbing.  I used a small craft paint brush to apply the E6000 directly to the bottle.  And, starting a one end of the strips, I applied the glue in small sections.
Important:  LET DRY COMPLETELY!

Step Three:  Apply Vinyl Lettering
If you've made your own lettering, just use the standard method for vinyl transfer using transfer tape.  

Reminders...a project like this cannot go in the dishwasher.  Just use a gentle hand when rinsing in the sink, and do not soak it as the letters will probably come off unless you've used water proof vinyl!




Have fun, and be sure to post your designs in the comment section!




Friday, May 20, 2016

Blingtastic Personalized Mini-Notepad

   
Pull out your glue gun folks, 'cause here'a a really quick and easy project for your weekend!  Around here it's dance recital and dance team try-out time, so I made these cute little notepads as a congratulatory gift for my girls.  They always have little notes or reminders from their coaches, and I thought the notepads would come in handy for staying organized.  But, I think they'd be great little favor gifts for a little girls birthday party, too!  I'm thinking of making matching pens with some of the leftover diamond wrap, and I'll post them when I get a chance.

Here's all you need:

  • Glue Gun
  • Glittered Mini-Notepads (Dollar Tree, 2/$1)
  • Floral Diamond Wrap (Dollar Tree, 9ft./$1)
  • Scissors




Step One:  Simple...heat up your glue gun! While it's heating, layout your design. In order in use all of my daughter's high school colors, I cut the diamond wrap down to single strands. For the letters, I made simple block letters using the full width of the diamond wrap.  But here's where you can get creative, because I think it would be fun to use a single strand if you wanted to do a more curvy style of lettering (i.e. a monogram font.) And, yes, you can cut straight through one of the stones to get the shape correct for your letters as they are just plastic.

Step Two:  Glue down the diamond wrap!  Once you are happy with your design, work in small sections so the glue doesn't set before you press the diamond wrap into it.  Too much glue will push up through the webbing and not look so good, and you'll be fighting the little string-y bits like crazy. I like to use the tip of the glue gun to gently push the diamond wrap into the glue beneath, just don't apply any pressure to the trigger or you'll have a big mess!


That's it, you're done! Now go enjoy your weekend!




Personalized Blintastic Mini-Notepads!