My fridge was in need of a vinyl re-do. I had a huge vinyl flower scroll on the left side for the past few years and decided it was time for something new.
Inspiration: the "Moroccan Print" background that came with my Silhouette Cameo.
I also wanted to add some "function" since the doors on our stainless steel fridge are not magnetic. Pick Your Plum had a daily deal for dry erase vinyl, so I purchased some of that to incorporate with my Morocccan design.
First: a little math needed to be done to calculate how many shapes across and down I could fit on each of the french doors. I also figured in the width of my vinyl material to have the least amount of waste. I enlarged the .svg file in Silhouette Studio to be the right size and manipulated the spacing a tiny bit so I could then weld the shapes together. Once I had my basic design, the Cameo cutting began. I decided to weed the larger solid shapes of the cut vinyl so I could use them for another project. Then I just eyeballed the placement for the first section and puzzle pieced everything from there. I did try to reuse my transfer paper as much as possible to reduce waste.
Once the left side was done I took a little break...for like 3 months. Then Hurricane Sandy came, and we were all stuck in the house so I decided to finish my refrigerator project. Since the left side was complete I use that to figure out where my vinyl dry erase sheets would be placed on the right side. The dry erase sheets were about the size of 3 across and 2 high of the Moroccan design. Here's how I made the larger dry erase shapes (and I'm sure there's a few different ways of doing this):
Step 1: Release paths
Step 2: Separate outer line from interior design, delete interior
Step 3: Use the "edit points" icon and delete all points between the apex(es?) on each side.
Step 4: You will have this shape which retains the corner design
Then all I had to do was cut out the dry erase vinyl and continue applying all the vinyl shapes for the right side. After I was done I added our names in to each dry erase sheet.
When I was a little kid, my mom had 2 signs in our kitchen. One said "Menu: 2 choices - take it or leave it" the other said "I'm so far behind I think I'm first". I'm really starting to relate to that second sign. and thought it might be a nice addition to my "studio re-do". (yet another thing on my to-do list- repaint my sewing studio!)
Using the silhouette studio software I just started playing around with layout, fonts and sizes. I decided on 2 fonts- Arial Black and LD typeset (a font downloaded from Silhouette). Once I had the layout done I thought a cool herringbone/chevron background would look nice. I had this design already downloaded as one of silhouettes weekly freebies. (ALWAYS download the freebies! you never know when you might use them!)
I picked up a cardstock stack called "A Type of Art". It has some great double sided papers like metallics and glitter. One of them looked like stainless steel, so I used that for the chevron.
After I cut the chevron out with the Cameo, I hit it with a touch of spay adhesive and gently placed it on a light aqua cardstock and trimmed around the edges.
For the phrase I used a magenta premium vinyl. My first attempt was a failure - I cut the vinyl and used transfer tape to place it on top of the chevron. The chevron layer was too "thick" and my letters looked all lumpy and were peeling up on the corners. So after I carefully peeled the vinyl off and managed to salvage the cardstock I decided to mirror the phrase- so I could ADHERE IT TO THE INSIDE GLASS! Yes - a simple solution!!!! That way it would be right side facing, easy to clean the glass AND the
letters would not look "stuck on" as if I had just adhered them to the
front side of the glass.
mirrored image so the vinyl sticky side is on the "right side" of the letters.
Once I had the vinyl cut (again) I used the following steps:
Weed the vinyl
Use a ruler to mark the horizontal and vertical center line for the vinyl and on the picture frame.
Peel off backing (if you peel the backing FROM the vinyl it will curl less. If you peel the vinyl FROM the backing it will curl more and you run the risk of it sticking together.)
Use my center line marks and carefully and SLOWLY place the vinyl on the glass and smooth. I rubbed over this a bunch of times to try and get out as many air bubbles as possible.
Peel the transfer tape away from the glass.
Inspect for air bubbles and smooth over any big ones.
So now the vinyl is stuck to the inside of the frame glass. I can easily replace the background or even peel off the vinyl from the glass if I ever want to change the design. I dropped in the background and put the chipboard back on the frame. Now - I just need to find the right spot to hang it!
Problem: INCREDIBLY picky 6 year old, refuses to eat dinner.
Solution: Family menu board. Everyone gives input and we create our meal plan for the week.
Problem: white dry-erase board located on kitchen organizer sucks.
Solution: paint with Rustoleum chalkboard paint.
Once I painted over my dry erase board I could start designing our new menu board. I was a little pressed for time today so I purchased 2 shapes from the Silhouette online store downloads to speed up the design process.
I manipulated the calendar design in Silhouette Studio- deleted some of the boxes, made it longer and so on. I dropped the days of the week in and cut the design out on white premium vinyl.
After I weeded the vinyl, I used the Silhouette transfer tape, eyeballed the placement and stuck it on the chalkboard. Then I found some sidewalk chalk that Lilly left behind in our front yard (no joke) and wrote in our menu for the week. I plan on getting some of those fancy chalk pens, but for the time being, sidewalk chalk will do...
I intentionally didn't put "menu" or anything like that on my design in case I get lazy and stop writing our meal plans here. I can at least use it for special reminders or something else by leaving it kinda generic.
Oh how I LOVE my Silhouette Cameo. I have only had it for 3 months, and my list of projects TO DO is a mile long. Here's just a few things of the things I have made so far....
1.Banner - My friend Karen had twins just 3 weeks ago, so I decorated her front garden with a "Welcome Home Thomas & Sienna" sign. I used a cardstock called "Creamy" by DCWV. The paper has a slight slick sheen/coating to it so it was the perfect paper to endure the outdoors for a few days. The Silhouette file I used was called banner kit - item # 28108. I downloaded it as a free weekly shape, but it can be purchased for $.99. I layered the coated cardstock over a solid white cardstock. I used twine to thread through each letter and hang the banner with.
2. Un-Paper Towel Vinyl. I created this with the Silhouette Studio software and used the black premium Silhouette vinyl. The font is called Tangerine, I downloaded it for free from ScrapVillage.com. We have a reusable paper towel dispenser but no one quite knows what it is if they are not familiar with our kitchen. The dispenser is from Etsy Shop madeintheredbarn. This is easily one of my favorite items - ever.
3. I ❤ Randyland onesie. This I made for my friend Jenn who's expecting a baby girl any day now. It is inspired by the Randyland episode of Hoarders. I'll let you in on a secret. I have a small group of friends and we all log on Facebook and watch Hoarders together. It's our guilty pleasure and weekly motivation to clean. Didn't see the Randyland Episode??? Check it out here. I had the pleasure of visiting Randyland this summer while I was in Wildwood, NJ. It was an experience. The onesie is hand-dyed purple, and I used Silhouette Studio to create the I ❤ Randyland design with a stock font I have on my computer. I used white flocked heat transfer from Silhouette and applied that to a piece of knit jersey, then appliqued and it to the onesie.
4. Rock Me Tee. What happens when you have tickets to see Old Crow Medicine Show, but have nothing appropriate to wear? You make your own Wagon Wheel tee. Please tell me you know of OCMS??? No? Check this out:
I used a plain grey tee that I had hanging in my closet, created my own wagon wheel design (or I guess I could have bought this one from Silhouette). To make the text curved I followed a tutorial on using "text to path". After it was all done, I used black flocked heat transfer material and ironed it on.
5. Owl "screenprint" dress. Every first grader needs something super unique for the first day of school. I made this tee + fabric dress for Lilly, and then she informed me that she wanted "something with an owl" to wear for the first day of school. (At the eleventh hour) I purchased an owl shape from the Silhouette store and made a vinyl cut out shape to use as my template.
Once I had the vinyl placed on the dress where I wanted it, I put a layer of cardboard in between the front and back of the dress so I wouldn't get any bleed through and used a small amount of brown Jacquard Textile paint and applied it with a sponge. It took about 2 coats of paint to get a good coverage. Once the paint was dry I peeled off the vinyl and gave it a quick heat set with my iron.
6. Hot air balloon centerpieces. These I made for my friend Karen's baby shower (yep same Karen from the banner sign above). It was actually my first "big" project using my Silhouette Cameo. I was inspired by this picture from the Jessicakes Blog:
Since Karen was having boy/girl twins, and the baby shower colors were blue and pink, I picked a plain pink and blue cardstock for the balloons. I made the balloons double sided (used some spray adhesive to layer everything together) and I found a cute white textured cardstock to use for the clouds. I used a brown cardstock and a modified version of the balloon basket, and used a tiny hole punch in the corners. I tied 2 ply twine through the holes to make the basket hang down. Our local florist sold me the card stakes for $.25 each and I found pink and white begonias at a garden center. The plant pots are from Ikea and I used 3/8" grosgrain ribbon threaded through the "lace" top.
So there you have it...just a few of my Silhouette Cameo projects.
