Thursday, November 4, 2010

Ornament Silhouette T-shirt

I am *that girl* who waits until Thanksgiving (and Black Friday!) are over before busting out the Christmas decorating, baking, carols, and projects. It's hard to be me when so many bloggers are showcasing their fabulous Christmas crafts, but I guess I'm a traditionalist. I like to finish out Fall and this season of gratitude before moving on to the "most wonderful time of the year!"

That said, this is most likely the only Christmas-related craft you will see from me before Thanksgiving. As most of you know, I'm hosting a Silhouette Product Giveaway this week along with a discount on Silhouette products. I thought it might be nice if I took the time to show you guys one of the products I got to try out and give it a little review. Want a sneak peek?


I'll admit, I was really skeptical when I pulled the heat transfer material out of the packing box. I don't own a Silhouette machine, and I had a hard time imagining how even the most accomplished crafting diva would manage to create an intricate design using only scissors. Hmmm...

As I tried  to think of something simple I might be able to pull off, Jen's Painted Ornament Pillows came to mind. Light bulb moment!

I bought a red, long-sleeved t-shirt from Wal-Mart's Garanimals line for $3.50, some permanent fabric glue, and some thin Christmas themed ribbon from Michaels. Time to get to work!

I found some ornament silhouette clip art photos through Google and printed them in different sizes using MS Publisher. This is where having an actual Silhouette machine would have been handy, but didn't ruin the project for me.

I placed my ornament cut outs on the unrolled heat transfer paper to trace and cut out (they give you quite a lot!):

Once I had the shapes cut out on the transfer paper, I peeled the plastic off and laid the shapes out with the clear paper over top.

I recommend using a thin (!) kitchen towel to lay over the clear paper when ironing...this ensures that the heat will adequately adhere your transfer paper to the shirt. The Silhouette directions said to hold the iron firmly in place for 45-60 seconds. I found that it took several passes before my shapes were all the way stuck on the shirt.

Hmm...kind of bland, huh?

Time for some bling! I eye balled ribbon and rhinestones, using fabric glue to press everything into place by hand.


And the final product?

  
Michaela Byrd looks like she's ready for a Holly Jolly Christmas, doesn't she? (She certainly has the jolly part down)

Final verdict? I give the Heat Transfer Paper a B+. Having the use of a Silhouette machine would have opened up a world of options for cut outs. I felt somewhat limited in that I knew I'd do better with solid shapes...I have the cutting skills of a preschooler. Being able to do use more intricate designs in a wider variety of colors would have bumped this product up into the A range, but the product itself is fairly easy to work with and I was impressed with the amount of paper that came in the package.

{Are you still in Fall celebration mode, or are you ready to bring on the Christmas?}


Linking to Weekend Wrap Up party and the Crazy Christmas Crafter Link-Up.


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27 comments:

  1. I'm like you, Christmas doesn't come out until after Thanksgiving. I actually still have my Halloween decor out. GASP! I know! haha! I've had a rough week. I'll get it down today and put up my fall/Thanksgiving decor. The shirt turned out so cute. Michaela cracks me up, she is so darn adorable. :)

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  2. Oh my goodness that is just precious! Love the snaps you got at the end. Nothing beats a natural smile and sometimes only mommy can get that! I know, I would love to take your little cuties pictures. If I’m ever out in your neck of the woods or vice versa we should set something up……it would be nice to meet in real life as well.
    I’m off to sign up for the giveaway. :o)

    Oh and I’m already in Christmas mode. I know shame on me! We really don’t do Thanksgiving up big in my family. Kent and I usually stay home relax and put the Christmas lights up. I’m having a harvest party with my gal pals this year. Otherwise I would have already started decorating for Christmas. The party is on Friday and the fall décor is coming down on Sunday!

    Kendra aka “Domestic Princess in Training”

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  3. Oh my gosh! That shirt is so cute! I'd wear it :-D You did an awesome job!

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  4. That is such a cute shirt! I have to say that I don't start Christmas until the first full week in December. I love fall and Thanksgiving stuff, plus I need a little down time between holidays! I won't be working on Christmas crafts for a while...I need to find some fun Thanksgiving stuff to do {like a turkey shirt for Eli}!

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  5. That turned out really cute! Michaela Byrd definitely has the jolly down! She's a little cutie patootie! Thanks for the review. I've never done a heat transfer like this before.

    I'm ready for Christmas. I think I might be the only one. I think my tree might go up tomorrow because Hubby is off and my kids are out of school. I know. I'm nuts!

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  6. I love this. I'm thinking of working on a couple of variations of this as well. So cute!

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  7. Adorable! I don't think my 6yo boy could pull it off, though...bummer. Still, I hope I win the giveaway!!!

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  8. Amanda - those shirts are adorable!!! Great job. I love them so much!!

    I shared them on my Tatertots page and linked to you :)

    xox
    Jen

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  9. not ready for Christmas here quite yet! love the shirt-what a great idea and it's so cute! i'll have to file this-would be cute with christmas fabric appliqued on a shirt!

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  10. I love the way you decorated the ornaments with ribbon. Such a clever idea!! I have some white heat transfer sitting in front of me. I might have to borrow that idea for some Christmas jammies!

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  11. That M.B. is one adorable little cookie. :) And her shirt is pretty adorable, too! Good job. I think you did great work here without the benefit of the cutter.

    I'm definitely a Thanksgiving-decor-until-after-Thanksgiving-Day kind of girl. That said, I'll admit that I REALLY like to buy my Christmas tree on the Saturday after Thanksgiving! It seems like the season to have Christmas decorations up is so short! But I do like to give Thanksgiving its due. :)

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  12. You're a super crafty heat transfer paper whiz! It's adorable, and the little girl wearing it just makes it more so!

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  13. This is an adorable project but not as adorable as your sweet little girl. You could sell these shirts in a heart beat!!

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  14. Great idea! I agree that the girls are much more adorable.

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  15. See? I could have used this to make my Dewey Beach Boy t-shirt! :)

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  16. Oh it looks so great! Love the design and she looks so happy in it. And, I'm loving the boots, too.

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  17. It certainly helps that your model is so darn cute, but what a fun shirt!

    I'm so ready to break out the Christmas decor! Canadian Thanksgiving is long over, but we typically wait until my birthday is over at the beginning of December to decorate... a tradition that goes back to childhood in an effort not to let a house full of kids on a cake high trash the holiday decor! *lol*

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  18. I love this! Thank you for sharing :))

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  19. SO cute! :) I have been curious about the heat-transfer paper, so thanks for the review!

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  20. LOVE IT!!!!! Thanks for the tutorial!

    I hope you'll come over to Funky PolkaDot Giraffe and link up sometime to TOO Cute Tuesday!

    http://funkypolkadotgiraffe.blogspot.com

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  21. I hear ya about the Christmas stuff! I want to enjoy Thanksgiving first. But then again Christmas comes so fast I feel like my stuff is out for a day and it is time to put it away again. That shirt is to so cute, but the model is even cuter. I have terrible preschool cutting skills as well. (actually a preschooler probably cuts better than me now that I think of it!)

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  22. VERY cute! I'd love for you to link this up to our holiday link up party! http://iheartnaptime.blogspot.com/2010/11/crazy-christmas-crafter-link-up-w.html

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  23. Hi!! I am your newest follower from the crafty link up! I love finding new blogs and yours is lovely:) You can find me at www.bouffeebambini.blogspot.com
    Take a peek at my giveaways if you come by. Everything is handmade and gorgeous!
    This is so adorable

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  24. love this!!! cant wait to make a christmas shirt for my little lady! Thanks for the inspiration!

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  25. I am so feeling you on savoring the season of gratitude... I don't feel ready to move on at all this year! But your lovely Christmas craft is great & you're daughter looks just jolly as can be - thanks for sharing :) I'm your newest follower- would love for you to follow me back (a fellow Virginia blogger ;)
    Blessings!
    Lauren
    summitstreetjoy.com

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