Tutorials Archives - Page 4 of 53

Candy Birthday Wreath with Crazy Little Projects

August 22, 2014 By Michelle Barneck 3 Comments

Hi friends! I am happy to be visiting while Michelle snuggles her new little baby! (Though I would rather be snuggling a new little baby like her!) I am Amber from Crazy Little Projects where I show off all of the craziness that keeps me busy-sewing, baking, crafting and having fun!

Now, Fall is coming and here at A Little Tipsy Michelle is featuring Fall projects. When I think of Fall I often think of wreaths. But-I confess I am not that big of a wreath fan. (That almost seems to be blasphemy in the blogging world!) I AM a fan of candy though. And birthdays. So I decided to take the classic wreath and add a twist…of candy! Here’s a Candy Birthday Wreath:

I did a candy birthday cake a few months back and it was such a big hit and I have had so much fun giving candy birthday cakes to friends and family that I thought it would be fun to try this wreath.

Let’s make one!

Candy Birthday Wreath:

Supplies Needed:

Wreath Form
Large bow
Hot glue
Candy-get a variety
Small piece of ribbon

Instructions:

I started by gluing the big bow to the top of the wreath:

Then, simply begin gluing candy to the wreath all the way around overlapping as needed.

If you are using chocolate just be careful that the glue isn’t so hot that is is melting the chocolate.

One the back add a small loop of ribbon to hang the wreath. You can pin or hot glue it in place:

And then hang it somewhere for the birthday kid to see!

Join me over at Crazy Little Projects or find me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest!

4th of July Shirts: Pledge of Allegiance Flag

June 27, 2014 By Michelle Barneck 4 Comments

July 4th is right around the corner! Every clothing store around is selling flag shirts for a little USA spirit, but why not make some of your own? I love to put my boys in customized shirts and figured this would be the perfect opportunity for a little patriotic display of The Pledge of Allegiance. We kept the flag in there too for good measure.

You may recognize the design from a flag canvas I made for my house last year. I loved it so much I figured why not spread the joy to shirts?!

SUPPLIES:

Cricut Design Space Software
Cricut Explore
White Heat Transfer
Red Heat Transfer
Navy Shirts
Weeding Tool
Clean Cloth
Iron

I took this image from last years post and uploaded it in to Cricut Design Space. Cleaned it up, made a copy of the image and hid the contour to separate the white and red areas alternately on the two images. I was planning to share the design and save you a lot of work, but the software will not let you share designs of things you upload.

It will be easiest to just choose a font you like and copy my layout by typing in text boxes. Trust me. Then group the text boxes so you can move them as two images the white letters and the red letters.

Size the flags according to the size of shirt. Now you are ready to cut. Be sure your shirts are pre-washed to remove any shrinkage.

Be sure to flip the letters horizontally before cutting so they won’t be backwards! Cricut Design software has a check box to remind you of this on the cut screen. Select the iron-on setting (I use a Cricut Explore so mine is on a dial on the machine) and you are good to go. Load the heat transfer vinyl shiny side down and cut. You will load the mat twice, once with the white and once with the red.

Weed your vinyl removing all excess from between the designs. Be sure all the i’s have their dots.

Preheat the iron on it’s hottest setting with the steam turned off. Place the groups of white letter and red letters on the shirt to make sure you get them in the right place.

Then remove the red letters and apply the white ones first. Place a clean cloth over it (I use a tea towel) and press firmly for 30 -40 seconds. Let it cool a bit and check for adherance. If it lifts up try 20 more seconds. If it is stuck remove the clear sheet and place the red letters in place to iron. Cover with cloth and iron as before.

For my boys shirts (size 4 and 6) the letters ended up tiny!! This was proof how accurately the Cricut Explore can cut. Look at them next to a quarter. Crazy!

I love how our 4th of July shirts turned out and can’t wait for them to sport them next week!

Buzzing Bee Balloons

June 9, 2014 By Michelle Barneck 3 Comments

Today we’re sharing a quick and easy activity to keep the kids busy this summer using things you probably already have around the house. We learned this clever idea during a trip to the Thanksgiving Point Children’s Garden and thought it would be great to share. We’re making buzzing bee balloons. Buzzing? Yes! Give them a spin and they make a sound. You’ll see.

The supplies are simple. All you need is a hex nut, a yellow balloon and a black permanant marker to create this cute little guy!

Place the hex nut inside the balloon, blow it up, and tie it closed. Don’t blow the balloon up too big or it will pop easily. Use the marker to draw wings, stripes, and a friendly face. Older kids can easily draw the face and personalize themselves, but littler kids will need some help.

How do you make it buzz? We’ll let my little guy show you how simple it is. Just shake the balloon so the hex nut rotates inside.

Even my toddler can make it buzz on his own with a little shakety shake. They had tons of fun buzzing around and flying them in the yard!

Iron-on Version Shirts for Father’s Day or New Dads

May 27, 2014 By Michelle Barneck 6 Comments

Product was provided by Expressions Vinyl.

It seems simple to shop for the Dad who loves fishing or golf. But, what about those of us married to computer geeks? They already have their laptop, tablet, and accessories. And even if they didn’t, sometimes it is hard to know what would be best with all the tech lingo specs that can confuse even the most savvy. We love to make Dad something special for Father’s Day and involving the kids is a total bonus. With a new little one on the way I wanted some coordinating shirts for them to sport so what do you do with a Computer geek dad and soon to be three boys? I introduce the version shirt.

Hubby is a software developer and is always talking about how they are getting the next version ready for launch so I thought how perfect to incorporate that into shirts with our brand new version on his way in August!

I wanted our version shirts to look like the old school command prompt screen so I chose green apple on black for the heat transfer vinyl. The process is so simple!

1. In the Cricut Design Software find a rounded rectangle and using Bookman Old Style font place the letters v 1.0 for Dad, v 2.0 for the first child, and so on in each rectangle. I sized the rectangles and letters according to the size of shirt. Now you are ready to cut.

2. Be sure to flip the letters horizontally before cutting so they won’t be backwards! Cricut Design software has a check box to remind you of this on the cut screen. Select the iron-on setting (I use a Cricut Explore so mine is on a dial on the machine) and you are good to go. Load the heat transfer vinyl shiny side down and cut.

3. Weed your vinyl removing all excess from between the designs.

4. Cut apart the rectangles and version groups to prepare for ironing. Preheat the iron on it’s hottest setting with the steam turned off. Place a black rectangle down 1-3 inches from the neck of the shirt (depending on size of shirt) with the shiny side up. Place a clean cloth over it (I use a tea towel) and press firmly for 30 -40 seconds. Let it cool a bit and check for adherance. If it lifts up try 20 more seconds. If it is stuck remove the clear sheet and place the letters in the center of the rectangle. Cover with cloth and iron as before.