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How to Apply Vinyl Tutorial + New Kitchen Sign Design

5 · May 9, 2017 · 2 Comments

Have you always wanted to create beautiful vinyl signs but, can’t quite get the hang of applying vinyl? Look no further, I’m sharing my pro tips for how to apply vinyl to create beautiful vinyl signs.

how to transfer vinyl tutorial • brought to you by Cricut

Recently, we moved to our new forever home and I have been madly creating all kinds of fun things to make the space my own. I LOVE creating word art whether it be for vinyl signs, painted signs, or for printables, for some reason that kind of decor always speaks to me. (No pun intended!) I love typography and everything that comes with creating with words and letters. I love watching trends come and go and adding my version to the fray.

Right now, with the popularity of the show Fixer-Upper, word art is hot. I have all kinds of farmhouse/industrial signs all over my house. I found a fun, blank chalkboard stand at Michaels in their decor section and thought it would be fun to create a new “The Kitchen is Now Open” Sign for my counters. After a little bit of playing around, this is the design that I settled on…

Download Kitchen Sign for Free

It has a little bit of farmhouse flair that so many of us are in love with right now. Now, this sign could be a little intimidating with all of the little letters but, don’t let it be intimidating. YOU CAN DO THIS! All you need is a little patience. So many people try and rush through a project and they get easily frustrated and then their project fails. That is so SAD! Step back, grab a Diet Coke (or, whatever it is that makes you happy), and ENJOY the process of creating.

For today, I’m focusing on just the vinyl transfer part of sign making. I’m working on a few more tutorials on how to create your sign in the NEW Cricut Design Space that was launched in BETA mode a week ago. It’s fabulous! I’ve been having a ball getting to know the new, faster & more user-friendly Design Space. I’m sure you’re going to love it too! It’s so easy to create your own designs within the Design Space or you can create in other programs like Photoshop or Illustrator and import your PNG files directly into Design Space and create that way as well. I’ll be working on more tutorials for both of those options soon.

I’m also working on a video tutorial on how to weed your vinyl. That’s the process of removing the negative part of your design in the vinyl. It’s really not hard, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve that will make it a little easier. Today, I’m just going to focus on how to apply vinyl. Here’s a quick video to show you how to apply vinyl to any type of smooth surface.

Video Tutorial for How to Apply Vinyl

How to Apply Vinyl by WhipperBerry from Heather Thoming on Vimeo.

See, isn’t that simple! Honestly, the trickiest part is making sure that the design is centered onto your surface. As long as you stick with these simple tips, you can become a vinyl sign PRO!

Pro Tips for Applying Vinyl

Take your time – like I said before, don’t rush. If some of the vinyl lifts while you are transferring it to either the transfer tape or your sign… Don’t stress out. Lay that section back down and press on the vinyl with your finger and then try again. You’ll get it, just don’t rush.
Make sure your surface is clean – Now think about this, if you try and place a sticker on a surface covered in dust, dirt, sand, or general grime, what will happen? The sticker won’t stick. Same thing with adhesive vinyl. Whatever you are adhering it to needs to be clean. Nothing is more frustrating than laying down some vinyl and then finding a little piece of dirt stuck under the vinyl image making an unsightly bump. Take the time to make sure everything is clean.
Trim excess vinyl backing – Again, vinyl is just one big sticker. Stickers are placed on backing to keep the adhesive side sticky. The same applies to vinyl. Once you have cut your design on your Cricut machine, you’ll weed your vinyl and then you’ll want to cut away the excess vinyl backing. This will help when laying down your design and making sure it is placed the way you would like it.
Create a hinge – Several years ago, when the Cricut cutting machines made cutting your own vinyl possible, a good friend of mine, who owned a large-scale sign-making company, taught me her tricks for applying vinyl. Each of these tricks, I still use them every time. One of them is to use the transfer tape to create a “hinge” at the top of your design. Check out the video and you’ll see what I mean.
Pull transfer tape low, slow, and diagonally – My sign-making friend also taught me this years ago. When removing the transfer tape, pull low, slow and diagonally. What I mean by low is, that you are essentially folding the non-sticky side over on itself as you are pulling as close to your surface as possible. When do that along with pulling diagonally, you’ll be less likely to pull the vinyl back up as you remove the transfer tape.

A Quick Note on Materials

Here we have it… Not all vinyl and transfer tapes are created equal!! I have tried many brands of both vinyl and transfer tape. I’ve used what the professionals use and basic crafters vinyl. I LOVE the Cricut Transfer Tape!! It’s clear and so easy to use. I’ve also been very happy with the Cricut Vinyl. I have exclusively used the Premium Outdoor Vinyl for most of my projects and have been thrilled with the results. I made some travel mugs with the Premium Vinyl and have run them through the dishwasher many, many times and have yet to have any issues with the vinyl coming off. I LOVE that!

Stay tuned for more Cricut tutorials and projects coming to WhipperBerry! By the way… If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment here. I would be happy to help!

Disclaimer // I am a Cricut Ambassador and receive product and payment to help with my projects. As always, I will NEVER promote a product that I don’t truly believe in!

Gnome Garden

4 · May 1, 2017 · 3 Comments

A Gnome Garden is the perfect project for the entire family! With a little imagination, a good container, plants, some sticks from your yard and a little DecoArt Patio Paint, you can transform a simple garden into a gnome wonderland. Come learn how…

This Gnome Garden post brought to you by DecoArt

I have always been fascinated by gardening. Gardening is in my gene pool. I have a sister with a degree in horticulture & landscape design (gardening) and a mother who adores gardening. I SHOULD be an amazing gardener, right?

Well… I’m getting there. To be completely honest, that darn gardening gene is taking awhile to really kick into gear. Every spring I bring home a new set of, what my husband likes to refer to as, “this years sacrifices!” What?

I’ve tried and tried for a few years to maintain some plants in my home and finally, I feel like I can mange some simple plant care. However, I am no expert. What I love to do is, create with my family and a gnome garden is PERFECT for that.

Gnome and Fairy Gardens are becoming all the rage these days. If you walk into Michaels right now, they have a whole section dedicated to these fun gardens with all kinds of gnomes and their accessories. I decided it would be fun to create a gnome garden together with the family using some budget friendly items like sticks from the backyard as our gnomes & a raw wood bird house that I found at Michaels as their cute home. Here’s what you’ll need to make one with your family…

Gnome Garden Supply List

Garden container
rocks
soil
7-8 small plants
4-5 sticks roughly 6 inches tall
DecoArt Patio Paint
- Suggested Colors
- Tuscan Red
- Marigold Yellow
- Tango Blue
- Mistletoe Green
- Cloud White
- Wrought Iron Black
Small round tip paint brush
Small flat tip paint brush
pencil
a sharp whittling knife
jar of water
paper towels
small decorative rocks
colored decorative sand
garden accessories

Why Patio Paint is Perfect for Gardens

Not all paint is created equal. Some paint is more durable than others and that’s alright, every type of paint has it’s purpose. What you are looking for with this project is a highly durable paint that is non-toxic, water based and adheres nicely to things that will likely be outdoors or will endure repeated watering like this project. The DecoArt Patio Paint is PERFECT for this! Here are the specifics…

No sealer required for a durable, long-lasting finish
Weather-proof
Satin finish
Scuff-resistant
Superior coverage
Will not crack or peel
Water-based and non-toxic
Easy to clean
Made in the USA

How to Create a Gnome Garden

Here’s a quick video to show you how easy it is to create a special gnome garden of your own…

Gnome Garden from Heather Thoming on Vimeo.

Isn’t that easy and fun for the family? Here’s the step by step…

Place rocks at the bottom of your container. This helps with drainage for your plants. Plants love water, but they typically don’t like to sit in it all of the time. You’ll need to make sure they have proper drainage.
Pour in your potting soil. Fill your container about 3/4 full.
Plant your plants in the container with the lower plants in front and the taller toward the back. Keep in mind, you are trying to set a scene. If you are wondering what plants to use and how to maintain them, here’s a good article from the Empress of Dirt.
Paint your birdhouse. Keep it simple or go crazy… This is your design. I wanted to keep our simple. We painted the door on the back of the bird house and added dots to the roof with a nice red peek-a-boo trim around the scalloped edge of the roof. I used the tip of the brush handle to create the dots on the roof.
ADULT TASK • Whittle the end of your branches into a tip like a pencil. The top portion of the tip will be your gnomes hat. Keep in mind this task either needs to be done by an adult OR supervised by an adult.
On one side of your stick, whittle a “U” shaped section for the face of your gnome.
Using the DecoArt Patio Paint and your small flat brush, paint on your gnomes hat and let dry.
Take the white paint and paint on your gnome’s beard. Basically in a “U” shape following the line of the face that you whittle in before. Set aside and let dry. Refer to video for more details on how to paint your gnome.
Using a sharped pencil, dip your pencil tip into the black paint and gently place one gnome eye. Reapply the paint to your pencil tip and create another eye. Dipping into the paint twice will help to create eyes that a similar in shape and size. Set aside and let dry.
Once dry, name your cute little little gnomes! Ours are Max (red), Sven (yellow), Einar (green) & Ole (blue). Then place them into your gnome garden.
Using the small rocks and colored sand, create a walkway in front of the house.

How to Write on Labels with Cricut to Create Your Own Handwritten Labels

129 · Mar 28, 2017 · Leave a Comment

Love the look of handwritten labels but you’re not in love with your own handwriting? No problem! These Cricut handwritten labels come to the rescue!

My Handwritten Labels Circut Explore Air 2 Project

Did you know that you can WRITE with your Cricut and cut out cute labels? You can even write on Avery labels with your Cricut! I put the Cricut markers to the test and created an easy-to-follow video to show you how to create some simple industrial-style labels that everyone loves right now. Here’s what inspired this project…

I have become obsessed with herbal tea this winter. My husband and I would share a mug of tea every night before bed to warm ourselves before hitting the hay. We started with one flavor of tea, Camomile, and over the chilly months, we started collecting all kinds of new flavors. Soon our collection of herbal tea started to take over our kitchen and I decided that it was time to find a better storage solution for our newfound tea love. I found a great industrial-style cabinet that fits perfectly in our kitchen and loaded it up with all of our tea.

The next step was to create some labels for our new tea storage solution. Because the cabinet was an industrial-style cabinet I wanted to create some industrial-looking labels that were handwritten. The problem… I’m not a huge fan of my handwriting. I was just not blessed with that gift, nor do I have the time to practice, practice, practice. I remembered that my Cricut Explore Air 2 has a great “handwritten” option using the Cricut Explore Pens.

How to Write on Avery Labels with Your Cricut – Handwritten Label Inspiration

This is such a simple beginner project that anyone at any creative level can create for their home with their Cricut machine. For this industrial-style label, I kept things simple. I really only needed a “handwritten” tea name with a rectangle cut around it… Pretty basic. However, you can create all kinds of great “handwritten” labels with fancy shapes as well. I created a Label Design Pinterest board with some inspiration for all kinds of fun “handwritten” labels that you can make with the Cricut Explore Air 2.

The video below shows you in-depth how to create the lables.

How to Make Your Own Handwritten Labels With Cricut Explore Air 2

With all of that inspiration, you have to be chomping at the bit to get started. I created a simple, easy-to-follow video to show you exactly how to make these basic handwritten labels for a storage solution in your home. Grab a cup of tea, sit back and learn how to make your own labels.

Here’s What You Need to Make These Cricut Handwritten Labels

There are a few things you’ll need to make these awesome labels. The good news is you can get all of them online. Since you’re reading this I bet you already have a Cricut machine but if not, what are you waiting for!? The rest of the tools you may or may not have and I’d recommend picking them up to get this project going 🙂

Cricut Machine (I used the Explore Air 2 for this)
Cricut Pens
Cricut Cutting Mat
Avery Lables
Optional but helpful: The Cricut spatula tool
And just a little bit of practice!

That’s all you really need for this project. Most of these items are very cheap unless you don’t already have a Cricut machine. Even then, if you want to get into DIY home crafts and projects, the machines really are a bargain!

Tips & Tricks for Handwritten Cricut Labels

Here are a few tips & tricks that I learned along the way.

STOP and think about your end game. What style are you looking to create with your handwritten labels? Make sure you are selecting fonts that pair well with that design concept. If you are going for an industrial look, you aren’t going to use a font that is more shabby chic. If you have a farmhouse style in your home, you aren’t going to select a modern-style font and so on.
When working within Cricut Design Space, don’t forget to ATTACH your layers before you send your design to your machine. We go over this in the video so make sure you check that out before you get started.
The Cricut Design Space makes it super easy to tell the difference between a handwritten layer and a cut layer in your label design. Keep an eye on the icons to tell the difference between the layers. (HINT… I cover this in the video.)
USE your Cricut tools! I always want to move too fast and forget that Cricut has created some great tools to help make your projects the best they can be. When removing card stock paper from the cutting mat, use the SPATULA TOOL to keep your paper nice and flat. If you remove the paper by just pulling it away from the cutting mat, it will curl slightly.
Don’t forget to watch the video! It’s less than 10 minutes and it covers everything you’ll need to know to create your own “handwritten” labels.

Now hopefully you know how to make labels with your Cricut Explore Air 2. As always, If you have questions post them in the comments below and I will answer!

Colorful Nautical Gallery Wall Tips and Tricks

2 · Mar 20, 2017 · 1 Comment

The Gallery Wall… Everyone loves them. Yet, some find them really challenging. It can be hard to come up with the perfect combination of items that complement each other. Finding the right arrangement on the wall can be mind boggling BUT… It doesn’t have to be. You don’t have to be a certified gallery wall specialist, you just need to find a good partner like Michaels and then follow a few tips and tricks to create the PERFECT gallery wall for your home.

Gallery Wall 101

Gather items that compliment the room – You need to stay true to the space and find items and frames that enhance the space and stay true to the style of the room. If you have a rustic white farmhouse space, it would make no sense to put together a mid-century inspired wall gallery. The examples below are from Michaels new Gallery Wall collections. They are each designed to complement YOUR STYLE and make it easy to pull that style together without a degree in the fine arts… They’ve done all of the hard work for you.
Don’t be afraid to gather more than you need – It’s so much easier to gather items such as frames, photos, hooks, clocks, shelves, planters, wall art, mirrors, meaningful items… The list could go on and on. It’s better to have too much to start with than not enough. It’s easier to start working on your layout and then edit out items that don’t work. (Michaels PRO TIP, If you join their rewards program YOU NO LONGER NEED A RECIPT TO RETURN ITEMS! Yep, they keep all of your purchases stored under your account and you no longer have to keep those pesky recipes.)
Define your space – Gallery walls come in all shapes and sizes. Don’t be afraid to break the rules! Trust your eye and see what works best for your space. For my gallery wall, I wanted something nice and tight that didn’t go too much past the edges of the dresser in my daughter’s room. Yet, I didn’t really want it to be in a uniform shape. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box. Gallery walls can also spread out over multiple walls, around corners and take up larger spaces. So, don’t be afraid to spread out as well.
Layout your design on the floor – Jennifer Rizzo created a fun gallery wall using this idea. Before you get out the hammer & nails… Layout your design on the floor to get an idea of what it will look like. It’s so much easier to move stuff around that way and play with different designs. It’s much easier on your walls as well. Click on the photo to see how beautiful her gallery wall turned out!
Layer items to give more dimension – Flat is OUT! Gallery walls don’t need to to be one dimension. For my gallery wall I layered some items to give the space a little POP. I used strong adhesive glue like E-6000 to layer my different items.
Add color and texture with decorative paper – Not all frames need to be filled with photos. Using decorative papers is an inexpensive way to add color and texture.
Trace your items on paper – STOP! Before you hang one single thing… Trace all of your items onto butcher paper or old paper grocery sacks. Cut them out and hang it on the wall just like your perfect layout that you created on the floor. Ashley Hacksaw from Lil’Blue Boo shows how to use inexpensive paper and some painters tape to layout your gallery wall BEFORE you start putting holes in the wall. Once you get your layout perfect then the hanging can commence. You can even hammer or drill right on top of the paper to make sure your nails or screws are in the perfect place. Click on the photo below to see how Ashley’s cool gallery wall turned out!
Don’t be in a rush – Take your time. If you have a hard time feeling comfortable with creating your gallery walls and feel like you need a few second opinions, do it! Lay your gallery wall out on the floor and hand your paper gallery wall up and invite a couple of trusted friends over. Let it sit at this point for a few days until you are good and ready to move on to the next step. There is no need to rush… Unless your Mother-in-Law is coming soon, then you should probably get a move on.
Don’t be afraid to try other methods to hang your items – We live in an amazing time when we don’t always have to put nails in our walls to create an amazing gallery wall! Have you tried using Command Strips to hang your gallery wall items? I LOVE THEM!!! I especially LOVE the Command Strip picture hanging strips that are like Velcro. They are my current obsession. Will it surprise you to know that I didn’t use a single nail or screw for my gallery wall? Not a single hole was made in the wall. (My Dad would be so proud!) Now with that said, some heavier items will need a more secure way of hanging, so follow the directions on the Command Strips and make sure to use the right tool for the job.

The bottom line is, DONT BE AFRAID! Break the rules, do what works for you and your space. You aren’t creating Mount Rushmore, if after some time you feel the need for change, than change it. Luckily Michaels makes it so easy by creating a great starting point with fun products for their four new gallery wall collections the Farmington, Catalina (that’s the one I used), Alexandria & Savannah. Come on over to their blog the Glue String to get even more inspiration on how to create the perfect gallery wall for your home.

Disclaimer // I am thrilled to be a Michaels Maker and to have a chance to share with you some of my favorite Michaels projects. As a Michaels Maker they do provide the product for me to create with each month. However, I will only share what I truly love and use in my typical day-to-day life.