I know I already shared a great giveaway today.. but I have ANOTHER one! Yes! I know, I told you I was feeling like Oprah. (Details on how you can win this awesome stuff are at the bottom of this post!)
But first I have to show you my latest Silhouette project for this month’s Silhouette challenge. A dollar store charger that I turned into a chalkboard countdown calendar!
I am actually including the cut file for this design (already laid out for a standard sized plastic charger) so when you win the machine, you will already have your first project ready to go!
Before you apply the vinyl you first have to turn the charger into a chalkboard. And it couldn’t be easier. You only need three things. Sandpaper, painters tape and spray chalkboard paint:
Next you need to tape off exactly where you want the chalkboard to end (I wanted it down in the “indent” area of the charger). I found a small salad plate that was just about the right size and made a rough outline in painter’s tape:
Next, using a razor blade or exact knife, cut the outline of the smaller plate. (It is pretty easy to do this using the plate as your guide):
After you remove the tape from the cut you should have a perfect circle.
Next, to help the paint I adhere, I roughed up the surface with some medium grit sandpaper. By doing this after the taping the part of the charger you aren’t going to paint is protected:
To protect the rest of the edge of the charger (and not waste tape) I just wrapped it in aluminum foil, and then sprayed away:
it took me three light coats for full coverage (you want it thick since if you are writing on it with chalk, you don’t want it to scratch off!Now onto the vinyl! I used Oracal 631 for this (non permanent vinyl) just because I had it and I wasn’t worried about wear and tear. You could use 651 or Silhouette brand vinyl as well. It doesn’t matter.
Here is what the entire design looks like ( it is larger than 12 inches so you can’t cut it as one piece)
Therefore I split the file apart along these lines:
And rotated so they would all fit into one 12x12 area (easy if you are only comfortable cutting on the mat:
Therefore when you open the cut file to download, this is what it will look like:
Makes sense right?
Okay then. HERE ARE THE FILES!
First things first, cut out and attach the words to the chalkboard part of the plate (you can put them anywhere really, I smooched them down to leave lots of room, but you could put them higher:
Then cut apart the rest of the design (just like I indicated in the illustrations above):
And then I lined them up on my plate to make sure I had everything correct:
Using transfer paper or contact paper you can then transfer the snowflakes over. And that is all there is to it.
I put it in a little vignette with some dollar store ornaments sorted by color. I think it is super cute!
Yikes! I can’t believe there are less than three weeks until Christmas!
You could add a bow or something to make it extra fancy, but I like the simplicity.
Want to Check Out More Silhouette Projects?
My Silhouette Challenge buddies and I are all sharing projects on our blogs today, so peruse the projects below for a wealth of Silhouette inspiration!
1. Pineapples and Pinecones // 2. Simply Kelly Designs // 3. Architecture of a Mom // 4. Just a Girl and Her Blog // 5. Two Purple Couches // 6. Chicken Scratch NY // 7. Creative Ramblings // 8. One Dog Woof // 9. Ginger Snap Crafts // 10. The Thinking Closet // 11. Please Excuse My Craftermath... // 12. Designer Trapped in a Lawyer's Body // 13. weekend craft // 14. Dragonfly & Lily Pads // 15. Practically Functional // 16. Living My Given Life // 17. My Paper Craze // 18. The Kim Six Fix // 19. Home At Eight // 20. Queen of Everything // 21. Tried & True // 22. McCall Manor // 23. unOriginal Mom // 24. Create it. Go! // 25. From Wine to Whine // 26. GetSilvered // 27. It's Always Ruetten // 28. Nearly Handmade // 29. Mama Sonshine // 30. Silhouette School // 31. It Happens in a Blink // 32. Create & Babble // 33. Sowdering About // 34. Where The Smiles Have Been // 35. My Favorite Finds // 36. Lil' Mrs. Tori // 37. Designed Decor
Silhouette Giveaway!
And I've saved the best for last. My Silhouette Challenge buddies in partnership with Silhouette America are hosting a mega-huge giveaway for not one...but two winners! The prizes up for grabs? First prize: The NEW Silhouette Cameo Machine and Designer Edition Super Bundle! $406.93 value.- Silhouette CAMEO®
- Designer Edition Software
- Dust Cover
- $25 Download Card
- Four Essential Silhouette Tools (hook, spatula, scraper, pick-me-up™)
